Creative Industry
African Women Entrepreneurs in Covid -19 Era
 
																								
												
												
											By Ebere Agozie
In spite of the giant strides Nigerian women have been making in the world of business, a new reality is staring them – along with the rest of humanity – in the face: COVID-19.
The prevalence and astonishingly rapid spread of the virus had the whole world literally hyperventilating, wondering what had hit it.
At first, there was fear that, given the predominantly rural setting of Africa, and given also the fact that awareness about the pandemic has been slow in catching on, the worst was about to happen.

The expected annihilation may not have happened on the scale feared in Africa, but the presence of the coronavirus in the continent has remained a huge cause for concern.
This is especially so for women whose case is further exacerbated by the very nature of African culture.

Incidentally, many of the recommendations given by health experts as to the required distance between people have of course to do with what makes life pleasurable.
Going by the above observation, one wonders how women will be able to stick to these recommendations, considering the roles they play in society.
In Africa where there are basically no institutions that take care of the elderly and children with special needs, the challenge of taking care of them is dumped on the doorstep of women.
Women as caregivers do not only take care of the young children at home, feed and bathe them, but also their husbands and their aged ones.
Even as the typical belief or culture of African women revolve around domestic chores, some of these women are also the breadwinners of their homes and so must go out to work to put food on the table.
African women are very enterprising, and this could primarily be put down to the prevalent poverty in the continent and the need to ensure the welfare of their families.
There are those that are involved in subsistence farming, there are others that engage in petty trade and commerce, there is the working class, and there are those that are the corporate world, albeit not many of them in this last category.
There are equally the full-time, stay-at-home housewives, although this class is shrinking by the day as, increasingly, women in Africa perceive the need to get involved in fending for the family.
In this attempt to examine women entrepreneurship in Africa today, we will look closely at the Nigerian situation.
With regard to enterprise, Nigerian women can be spread into four categories.
The first group is the full-time housewives, the stay-at-home housewives. As the name implies, these women simply stay at home to take care of the family, raise the children and generally run the home, while the husbands go out to earn a living.
Most of them are to be found in the northern parts of the country, mainly due to religious constraints since, by reason of their religion, they are not expected to mix very freely with the public, among whom there usually a lot of males.
This set of women is no longer as large as it was in the recent past as the increasingly dire economic conditions faced by most Nigerians make it necessary for more hands to be on deck in providing for the family.
Simply put, staying at home and waiting for the husbands to, as it were, bring home the bacon, is becoming less attractive by the day. It is a luxury that most families can ill afford today.
A second category is the petty traders and the subsistence farmers. This sub-group is the most prevalent in our society. They make up the bulk of women in Nigeria and are found in far-flung parts.
Nigerian women are so focused, so family-centric, that even when they go to toil in the farm for the family, they would still come home to cook for everyone.
Women farmers may be the predominant group, but one class that seems to be surging recently is those engaged in petty trading.
There is hardly any part of Nigeria, especially in the lower geographical half of the country, where you do not find women engaging in some form of trading or another.
In most communities, it is common to see women displaying their wares just about everywhere you look.
Usually, you see just a few items – confectionaries, food items, soup condiments, and the like. But they know how far revenue from such efforts go in supplementing what the men bring home at the end of the day.
There are also other market settings that are generally dominated by women. These markets vary in size – from just a cluster of a few roughly constructed huts to extremely large, well-organized, and thriving markets that play host to thousands of traders, the majority of them, women.
Enterprising women range from just petty traders to big-time business women whose businesses run into hundreds of millions of naira.
Let us not forget also the working-class women that abound in the civil service and in private concerns
A lot of women have built very successful careers in the public service and they, too, deserve accolades for contributing in steadying the ship of the Nigerian state.
It has actually been proven, over time, that women have shown a rare dedication and conscientiousness in the discharge of their responsibilities, such that are now much sought-after in many organizations.
They have also, by this dint of hard work, succeeded in climbing to the highest reaches of such outfits.
These women, however, are among the few who were privileged to have been highly educated and exposed to opportunities that got them to where they are today, leaving the majority of the non-educated petty entrepreneurs to struggle daily to make ends meet.
Some of such women are Hajiya Bola Shagaya, an oil and real estate magnate, Uju Ifejika, and arguably the most prominent of them all, 65-year-old Folorunsho Alakija, who found her fame and fortune in the oil and fashion industries.
Nigeria is truly blessed, not only in terms of her abundant natural resources but also (with her large population) in terms of her huge human resources.
And a truly heart-warming proportion of this is made up of women.
All told, however, the problem of Covid-19 has impacted rather heavily on Nigerian women, especially the rural dwellers, and just made their efforts to make ends meet more onerous.
It is therefore unimaginable that social distancing could be practiced here by the majority of Nigerian women entrepreneurs.
Some of the women are stuck with men, some of who actually think that the coronavirus is an excuse by the governments to siphon public funds.
These men will always demand sex from their women, even when they are sick, and of course, there are also the factors of culture and religion, and so to them, #Social Distancing is not applicable.
Sometimes culture and religion give the women no chance of objecting and they are therefore forced to succumb to their husband’s advances, which sometimes come in the form of commands.
While #Social Distancing is part of prescribed ways of curbing the spread of #COVID-19, it is nonetheless going to be very difficult for some women trying to go about their lives to stay healthy while still carrying the burden of the people around them.
Most women interviewed lamented that their religions and culture have put much burden on them as women.
This has caused many of them to cast around for excuses on the back of indoctrination, almost amounting to brainwashing.
Hajia Fatima Muhammad, a Civil Servant jokingly asked, ‘how can I observe social distancing when my husband will not keep away from me?’
Her religious and cultural beliefs made her feel that women are not supposed to have a say in such matters.
“If he gets infected and still wants to sleep with me, what do I do since I cannot say ‘no’ to him”?
When asked why she would not deny her husband sex until after the pandemic is over to focus on her business she said: “My religion and culture forbid that’’.
Mfon Effiong, a businesswoman angrily responded, I am a nursing mother, how do I breastfeed my baby?
“I heard more men are infected than women, and more women survive than men even though we still sleep with them and exchange bodily fluids.
“Besides God has seen the burden we carry as women and has thus given us strong systems. I will not be infected in Jesus’ name,’’ she declared.
From the foregoing, it is clear that the incompatibility of social distancing and the desire to drive women entrepreneurship in Nigeria, and indeed other African settings, is a quandary to most African societies.
There is no easy way out of this predicament and the real or perceived inequality in society does not help matters, either.
It is therefore clear that the government organs responsible for public education, have their work cut out for them.
More than anything else, there is an urgent need for a much more aggressive grassroots education to let them know that it is about their health and that of everyone around them.
Entrepreneurship in Nigeria, especially among women, will be the better for it
Creative Industry
THANK YOU MOM-Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa
 
														
 Written by Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa 
…Every day I get to celebrate and honor being a mother, and honor my mother. Joining grateful children and mothers around the world to give gratitude and celebrate the special gift of motherhood is a priviledge.
I celebrate the blessing of motherhood every second of the day because it is the ultimate gift. I celebrate being a mother and having the most special mother every moment and want to give a loving shout out to my mother.
Anyone who knows my mother, Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa (nee Yusuf Gurshe Rafindadi), will be aware of what a difficult task it is for me to attempt to find the words to describe her. A role model to all who know and love her, my mother lives her life with great humility. Her selflessness and kindness to others knows no bounds. She is a fantastic person who has been blessed with a great sense of humor, a kind nature, and an unassuming ability to make all those around her feel special and loved.
To have the blessing of being able to call Hajia Ladi, ‘Mom’ and Alhaji Musa ‘Dad’ is, perhaps, the greatest fortune of my life. Continuously, I learn and grow from the pure example set by them.
The energy my Mom pumps into the love and caring she displays to all those around her and beyond is boundless. She continues to be a source of inspiration to so many that she meets by her unselfishness, dedication and Faith in Allah. She unceasingly encourages her children, family, friends, neighbors and associates to work hard at life but always to put Allah first. Her faith cradles her and her loved ones even during the times when life throws curve-balls. The courage she always shows in the face of adversity and her inner strength are truly what great people are made of. She is a true blessing.
My greatest wish for my Mom, as I watch her dedicate her life to encouraging, supporting, educating, protecting, helping, loving, and caring for all those she comes in contact with on a daily basis, is for her to be able to see herself the way the World sees her; which is as a blessing, an incredibly special and amazing person. A woman who is indeed a pure soul with a pure heart, a remarkable role model and a woman with great faith.
Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa is a shining gem and an angel. She has incredibly strong values. If ever there was a portrait of a Godly mother, it is she. I am convinced that anything that is pure and good in me, Allah has planted it in me directly from my Mom and Dad.
My Mom is big on teaching. On a daily basis, she teaches me to live my life, make my decisions and conduct myself as if I am teaching my children and the next generation. One of her favorite quotes to me is one of Ghandi’s. “Hannatu, always be the change you want to see in the world…” she would say. This quote consistently reverberates in my head and sticks with me wherever I go. It is exactly how Mom lives her life.
Some of the greatest values I try to uphold; defending my honor religiously, keeping integrity, trying to do right, caring for the downtrodden, were instilled in me by Mom. Her lessons and example influence every good part of my life and positive thought process.
Mom teaches me the difference between right and wrong and urges me to constantly try to make good choices. She teaches me to be faithful to myself, to my family, to my culture, to my community, to my calling, to people around me, to my identity, to my bloodline, to my Father’s name, to Nigeria and especially to Allah. She encourages me to be more focused and strive and finish things that I start. She always urges me to try as best as I can to keep my word and learn to accept and take correction. And she always worries and counsels me about tempering the fiery temper I inherited from my equally incredible late Dad.
Mom teaches me that the things I should treasure should never be made with human hands. She teaches me that it is through giving that I will be filled and fulfilled. She teaches me that originality feeds the soul and energizes the mind. She teaches me to exercise greater patience and always try to endure. She teaches me the difference between right and wrong. She teaches me not to use my power to hurt others. She teaches me to always strive to give more than I receive. This is an example that she lives with daily. Throughout her life she has always been known to help people, even at her own expense. It is the way she lives, even now. She simply loves being there for others and making their lives easier. It is the times that she helps people that you can see the greatest joy in her eyes.
As a little girl, she often took me and my siblings to orphanages, shelters and hospitals so we could see people who were suffering; so we could develop a desire to help people who are suffering. She made us touch and feed lepers in the days when people shunned them. She worries for everyone more than she worries about herself. She tries to do all she can to fix other people’s problems. Her charity was to everyone she interacted with, anyone who needed her and that was what made people gravitate towards her. That is the kind of woman my Mom is.
For the duration of my life I will dedicate every morsel of who I am, everything I have achieved and all that I have ever done good and right to my Mom and Dad. I thank them deeply for loving me so much and being the brightest light in my life. I thank them for showing me what I should be and teaching me how to be free and how to dream. I thank them for being the ultimate example of forgiveness, compassion, friendship, kindness, strength, generosity, honesty, elegance, beauty, resilience, selflessness, care, hope and love. I thank Mom for telling me she loved me every single day of my life. Even when we were not together, she finds a way of getting the message across to me, even if it was just through her energy.
Mom is my rock, my anchor; my strong, beautiful, vibrant angel; my heart and my precious gift from Allah. I am beyond proud of her and everything she is. From the time I was a little girl, Mom and Dad have always been all I have ever needed in my life. My submission to the Almighty comes first beyond everything else and my dedication to Mom and the memory of my Dad I draw through that faith. I truly have exceptional parents. My siblings and I truly won the loterry as far as parents go! We thank The Almighty with everything that we have for the grace and gift he has given us in the form of parents.
…Every day I get to celebrate and honor being a mother, and honor my mother. Joining grateful children and mothers around the world to give gratitude and celebrate the special gift of motherhood is a priviledge. I want to encourage everyone to celebrate and pray for their Mom every single day whether she is living or passed.
“Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa, I wanted to tell the world about the essence of you, my salute to you so they can celebrate with me on my great blessing of you, so they can celebrate their mothers too. You impact the world around you more than you realize. I love you on your good days and on your bad days. I see your sacrifice and struggle day after day. You are not just a mother, you are a role model and an advocate My heart will always belong to you and I want to say “May Allah always be with you.” May we witness many more days together by Allah’s special grace. I LOVE YOU MOM… I THANK YOU!”
Written by Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa
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