Empowering Widows: An Overview of Maryam Aladi's Intervention

By Musab Opeyemi Sulaimon

Yesterday, 13th December, 2022, Hajia Maryam Yusuf Aladi, APC candidate for Ilorin South constituency seat in the 2023 Kwara State House of Assembly elections, hosted a widows support programme, the third of its kind in her campaign office located in Fate area, Ilorin. The intervention signified yet again her commitment to progressively empower the widows and close the gap of marginalisation for this group of women.

Considering that this is a campaign season, it is  easy to draw the conclusion that the intervention program in favour of the widows was a gimmick to win their votes. However, when you consider that this very support scheme has been ongoing for the past two years, and that this is the third of such programmes, then you begin to internalize the fundamental objective of the philanthropist-politician, Hajia Maryam Aladi.

As a woman, there is no doubt that even before finally deciding to contest elections, Hajia Aladi understands what it means for a woman to lose her husband or partner. She knows that becoming a widow can be the beginning of a whole lot of problems and hardship, resulting in many women in this category unable to provide for their families as they are confronted with emotional issues and fears. 

Therefore, through her support scheme, Hajia Maryam Aladi is able to cushion the effect of hunger and also avail the widows the necessary empowerment to better their lives. This year, the politician is making  food available and putting resources in the hands of close to a thousand widows, clearly underscoring her knowledge of the fact that most of these women are breadwinners with responsibilities to maintain their households and look after their children.

No doubt, becoming a widow can be a desolate experience. Therefore, those who find themselves in this situation through no fault of theirs deserve all the support and encouragement, and it is through interventions such as the one advanced by Hajia Maryam Aladi that this group of women are able to advance their lives for the better. 

Despite best efforts, there is still a yawning gap in the sort of progressive policies that prioritise the needs of deprived groups, including widows, in our societies. This is why, aside the help and support she has constantly advances in her personal capacity, the legislative agenda of the would be lawmaker also covers the important issue of seeing to the elimination of all forms of deprivation for women. She plans to work on pushing laws that would effectively give more priority to addressing the challenges of vulnerable groups like widows and orphans. 

With her expected victory at the polls in March, 2023, the group of women that have constantly benefitted from the large-heartedness of Hajia Maryam Yusuf Aladi in her personal capacity, now look forward to having a more deliberate and sustained attention from a politician that has proven that, for her, attending to their needs is not a matter of political necessity, rather a matter of priority.