The story of Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe is that of a classic case of a, “rise from grass to grace”. She is a typical instance of one who was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but, who through dint of hard work, a clear vision, comportment, perseverance and providence, can today, literally, afford “golden spoons.”
She was born in 1966 into a family whose head, Alhaji Abubakar Balarabe, was a school teacher in Gwantu, a very rural community in present day Sanga Local Government Area in Kaduna state. Her primary and secondary school education were similarly done, respectively, in the sleepy, rural settings of Kagoro and Soba of old.
Following a stellar performance in her West African Schools Certificate examination, even at an unusually tender age, the girl from the humble home in Sanga got admitted to a prestigious university in the farflung city of Maiduguri for a course in Medicine, MBBS, in 1988 at the age of 22 years. She later added to her academic laurels, A Master degree in Community Health.
Once out of the medical school and done with her housemanship and the national youth service, the young Dr Hadiza, as a full-fledged medical practitioner, kept to her track of diligence and single minded commitment to her duties in places of employment. These traits, no doubts, explained her meteoric rise on the rungs of her career such that she had reached the enviable position of Director of Public Health in the Federal Capital Medical Service before she was 50 years old.
Like her principal, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who “accidentally” sauntered into public service but has since become a phenomenally successful politician, the journey of Dr Hadiza Balarabe into limelight in the political turf was more by the designs of providence rather than, a deliberate choice or, striving by her.
It all began when in 2016, Governor El-Rufai had asked his Commissioner for Health Services, the late Professor Andrew Jonathan Nok., to recommend a medical professional with the competence and other traits required to turn around the then moribund primary healthcare delivery system in the state. His other criterion was that, the person should be a native of the southern part of the state. Professor Nok, a renowned international Biochemist and, a Christian with a towering stature among the ranks of elders in southern Kaduna, settled for Dr Hadiza Balarabe. That choice was surely made on the grounds of her intelligence, professional competence and track records of probity and diligence in service. She did not disappoint.
Before the expiration of her two-year stint, the primary healthcare delivery system had rebounded in consonance with the breathtaking transformation manifesting in other facets of the state. Erstwhile repulsive buildings that had served as health centres were refurbished to become more attractive and functional.
Hitherto decayed utilities such as beds and essential medical equipment were replaced with new, ultra modern ones. For the first time in decades, primary healthcare centres in Kaduna state had medical doctors, nurses, laboratories, ambulances for emergency services, maternity and paediatric wards in addition to the provisions for short-term admission of certain categories of patients. Standby power generating sets and water boreholes were also available as,’ “icing on the cake”.
Feeling a sense of fulfillment in her accomplishments in service to her state of origin, Dr Hadiza Balarabe was, by the close of 2018, preparing to take up an offer of appointment by an agency of the United Nations in Geneva. But, providence or her destiny had mapped a totally new path for her. Information about her going on the Kaduna state governorship ticket as running mate to Malam Nasir El-Rufai struck like: “A bolt from the blues”.
The self-effacing but dexterous and nimble lady from Sanga seemed just contented to move on with her trade of a care giver, to another phase and clime. She was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, attending an international conference of medical practitioners when she was summoned back home “for a crucial engagement”.
As it happened with her first call up to the state public service, her nomination for the slot of gubernatorial running mate, was not the result of her lobbying or craving. She was, in fact, very far from the “maddening crowd” entangled in the intriguing horse trading and intense lobbying for the slot. That was following the decision of the then Deputy Governor, late Barnabas Bala Bantex to contest the senatorial election instead of seeking a second term in office.
When the dust finally settled, obviously, her spectacular performance at the Primary Healthcare Agency, stood her out as the best pick of the basket. Again, it is pertinent to note that, among the powerful forces that pushed her case, was Barnabas Bantex, the incisively intelligent and successful Architect, a grassroots politician and a founding member with the credit of designing the logo of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, SOKAPU.
The avant-garde who took that groundbreaking novel decision of projecting a woman to the position of a gubernatorial running mate in Kaduna state, were embarked on an uncharted path . They were pioneers with the daunting mission of engendering a paradigm shift from the old conservative political tradition that situated leadership within the framework of faith, gender and other primordial considerations.
With his trademark attraction to intelligent goal getters, the daring, innovative, gender friendly and ebullien El-Rufai would, naturally, be very comfortable with Dr Hadiza Balarabe as his running mate. Of course, the decision, as with most El-Rufai’s seeming weird decisions and actions, was not one that was haphazardly done. It was a cold, scientifically calculated political gambit, which, contrary to the pessimism in some quarters, resulted in a resounding victory at the end of the haze.
As it is, Dr Balarabe has broken several glass ceilings. She has the spot in the nation’s political history as the first democratically elected female Deputy Governor in the north of the country. She has the additional record of being the first Deputy Governor to present the annual budget of a state government in the entire country. With her emergence as the running mate to Senator Uba Sani in the 2023 Kaduna state governorship election, the lady medical doctor from Sanga is also on record as the very first politician to be a running mate to two different governorship candidates so far, in the Fourth Republic.
The metamorphosis of Dr Balaraba into a political phenomenon would have been completed if, with Uba Sani, the APC repeats in 2023, its 2019 electoral feat in the race to the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House. Behold, thereafter, a political Amazon who has conquered a wide expanse of turf without the roaring of smoking guns; without the razzmatazz and, bereft of the trademark shenanigans of the nation’s conventional political gladiators.
Ahmad writes from Kaduna
Hadiza Balaraba: The making of a political amazon
