Book Review
Title: The Woman I know
Author: Patrick Oguejiofor
Publisher:Mazariyya Books, Abuja
Pagination: 304
Reviwer: Henry Akubuiro
“I just like biography, and I’m fascinated by people who have shifted our destinies or our points of view” – Richard Attenborough
Bilkusu Abdulmalik Bashir made history as the pioneer Secretary of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, a culmination of a sterling public service career, where she earned the honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger for positioning the judiciary to greater heights. Her life journey, as chronicled in The Woman I Know, a biography written by Patrick Oguejiofor, together with I.O. Igwenyi and Musa Azare, is an informative and enlightening book on an endearing public administrator, whose impact is felt in the judiciary and different walks of life. The Woman I know vividly illustrates a unique rose petal that blooms all seasons, even when the elements do not align all the time. If offers a sprinkling of history alongside an intriguing narrative that begins from the family heritage, her 35-year public service career, which offers a peep into the workings of the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
In his foreword to the book, Justice Walter Samuel Onoghrn, GCON, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, said, Bilkisu Bashir, who worked with eight Chief Justice of Nigeria, notes that “her commitment to the success of Project Nigeria and the several people she inspired are all effectively captured in the highly motivating book”. He hails the book as a meticulous documentation of the life and career of a woman’s effort to help consolidate her country’s effort at building democracy for the good of the future generation” (xxii).
The biography begins with the Arrival of the Peace Child, chronicling his birth in the family home of Abdulmalik, her maternal grandfather, located in the Okeneba suburb of Okene, while her mother, Zainab, was on a visit to her family home, three kilometres from her matrimonial home. Her mum, before the birth of her daughter, had a dream where she had a baby girl, and she was named Salamatu – Peace. But she was rather named Bilkisu after her aunt who was troubled conceiving after years of marriage. Pictures of Young Bilkisu and family members round off the first chapter.
Her mum, Zainab, was the daughter of a diplomat, Adulmalik, who was by then Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She was barely two years old when the commissioner took Bilkisu to London, where she was raised. The authors write: “The blessedness of Abdulmalik’s home in London made Bilkisu’s childhood the sweetest and a most memorable one that she would always reminisce about” (p.14), which made Bilkisu say: “I could not have wished for a better childhood.” Her early education started in London in 1963, where he kept to the tenets of Islam in a Christian dominated society. Grandpa Abdulmalik was transferred to Paris in 1966 following the January 15, 1966 military coup, which claimed the life of his boss, Tafawa Balewa, and others. It was a troubling period in Nigerian history attended by socio-political crises that led to a counter-coup July 29, 1966 and killings, which led to a civil war.
Abdulmalik, thus, found himself in the eye of the storm in France because of France’s support for the breakaway Biafra. Abdulmalik was frightened by the rumoured threat to his family, and withdrew his children and Bilkisu from the school they were attending in Paris, Ecole Active Bilingue, Parc Monceaux. They were enrolled in another school, the Marymount School. But she continued her primary education in Offa, Nigeria, following the death of Abdulmalik during a visit to Nigeria in August, 1969.
She began her secondary education in 1971 at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, and sat for WAEC in 1975. Bilkisu’s path to greatness was nurtured at Ahmadu Bello University, she was admitted to study law. The biography chronicles that she excelled as a smart student riding on her foundation from the School of Basic Studies. She was admitted into the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, the same year. She went on to serve the country in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after law school, where she served at the Kano State Ministry of Justice.
From the tenth chapter, the biography details Bilkisu’s life as a career woman, beginning from Kano State Housing Corporation, where she was employed as a legal adviser as a Grade 9 officer and, two months later, as an assistant secretary in Grade 10. At KSHC, she served as general manager and five managing directors. The first part of The Woman I know ends with photos related to her career and social events.
Part Two of the book contains sixteen chapters, which, among others, chronicles the challenges she faced at the National Judicial Commission and the Federal Judicial Service Commission and how she steered the ship of the Federal Judicial Service Commission. The biographers note: “By 2010, Bilkusu had effectively consolidated her job as the Secretary of the Federal Judicial Service Commission. She had further distinguished herself through efficiency and commitment to work. More importantly, she had become famous and powerful; in fact, one of the top brokers within the Nigerian Judiciary” (read this book to find out these high level political intrigues).
Bilkisu’s marriage to Bashir Karaye also finds a prominent space in the book. It is a fascinating story. The twenty-fifth chapter of the book is laden with tributes by many who have been impacted by Bilkisu in various ways. Ahmed Maiwada, lawyer, novelist and poet, describes her life as “an engaging, thrilling life story”. The Woman I know will be presented to the public early next year.