Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, mni, was a household name, especially to journalists. She was the first female editor at the Triumph Newspapers before moving to New Nigerian, and later Citizens Magazine as (I think) editor.

A versatile journalist, columnist, journalism ombudsman and later civil society activist, Bilkisu mentored a lot of journalists for about three decades. Bikisu mentored our mentors.

Bilkisu, a former presidential Adviser on International Affairs and syndicated columnist for Daily Trust and Leadership newspapers, was the Executive Director of AdvocacyNigeria, a movement working for the reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality.

According to wisemuslimwomen.org, Bilkisu; “is also a founding member of several NGOs including two of the country’s most vibrant and pace setting national women’s organizations, Women in Nigeria (WIN) and the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association (FOMWAN).”

“She served as First Kano State Coordinator at WIN and as a National President at FOMWAN. She also is a Chairperson at ABANTU for Development, an NGO where she is the Master Gender Trainer for Northern Nigeria.

“Bilikisu has also worked as an information officer in the Ministry of Information in Kano and worked briefly as a Programme Officer at Radio Kano. She also worked as the Editor of three National Newspapers The Triumph in Kano, The New Nigerian, and Citizen Magazine.

“She serves on several national and international boards and has written 20 chapters in published books on subjects ranging from Women’s rights, media, gender, Islam, politics and maternal and child health.

“Bilikisu received her B.S. at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and also earned a Masters in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison, USA. She received an Advanced Diploma in Journalism from the Moscow Institute of Journalism and International Relations, Moscow. She is married with children,” wrote the website.

Bilkisu died yesterday alongside 716 others in the Mecca stampede. May Allah make Aljannah Firdausi to be Bikisu’s final abode.

– Jaafar is an Abuja based journalist.