Fati Lami Abubakar: Shunned first lady’s glamour for her career

Justice Fati Lami AbubakarSHE is the only Nigeria’s first lady who did not abandon her career for the glamour of the first lady’s office. Monica Taiwo, in this piece, X-rays Justice Fati Lami Abubakar, her passion and career.

WHEN you mention her name, the first thing that comes to the minds of most Nigerians is the fact that, Justice Fati Lami Abubakar was a first lady who shunned the glamour of the first lady’s office.

She is a woman who can be said to have a positive bearing on her husband, because she refused to change from her humble self and to be affected by the glamour and affluence of the state house. Her disposition goes a long way to confirm the saying that beside every successful man is a good woman, who never stops counselling her spouse properly.

Her husband, General Abdulsalami Abubakar was the Head of State for over a year, following the sudden death of General Sani Abacha. History cannot forget the role he played in the transition to civilian rule and democracy in Nigeria.

A trained lawyer who received her L.L.B from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), then University of Ife, Justice Abubakar is a woman who not only built her career but her home alongside. This is because as at the time she was at the Law School in Lagos, she was nursing her first baby.

Elegant and humble, Justice Abubakar, did not allow her husband’s position to affect who she was. She was able to draw a clear line between the issues of the state and those of the heart.

During her husband’s tenure as the head of state she had her own pet project just like her predicessors: Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), but unlike her predecessors, she never had a public launching, neither did she allow any state or local government to be invoved.

Instead she had WRAPA properly registered according to the law and she recorded a plus despite the fact that she has ceased to be a first lady a long time ago, WRAPA still exists as a non-governmental organisation, giving succour to women and children who needed help.

The mother of six, also did not allow the office of the first lady to rob her of her role as a mother, wife, friend and confidant to her children and husband.

The second child of the late Waziri of Minna, Alhaji Umaru Audu and Hajia Nana Asma’u, Fati was born in Minna, Niger State.She attended Our Lady High School, Minna and Studied Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University graduating with an L.L.B. degree. She is the first female Lawyer, Solicitor and Attorney General of Niger State.