By Balogun Kamilu Lekan
Who is Aisha Yesufu?
Aisha Somtochukwu Yesufu was born on December 12, 1973, in Kano State, Nigeria. But contrary to popular belief of being a northerner, she hails from Etsako in Edo State. She was the first of her parent’s 5 children.
Aisha an entrepreneur and activist, came to the limelight in April 2014 when she marched with protesters to the National Assembly in Abuja against the abduction of over 200 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria, a march that resulted in the BBOG (Bring Back Our Girls) movement.
She was also a frontrunner during the EndSARS protest against police brutality and bad governance in Nigeria.
Education
Despite the difficulties young girls from Northern Nigeria face to get Western Education, Aisha rose above all odds to pursue her education.
She said, “By the time I was 11 years old, I did not have any female friends because all of them had been married off, but I wanted to be educated and leave the ghetto”.
It was reported that she attended 3 different universities: Uthman Dan Fodio University, 1992, where she dropped out for some personal reasons.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1994 where she was studying Medicine before she left due to the killing of a professor in 1994, which led to the closure of the institution for a year.
Then, Bayero University, Kano where she finally graduated as a Microbiologist.
Marriage
Aisha is married to Aliu Osigwe Yesuf who she met at her uncle’s bachelor’s party on 13 December 1996, which was the first party she ever attended. She revealed this in her interview with PUNCH.
In an interview with BBC, Aisha admitted she was the one who wooed her husband. Sharing the interview conducted in pidgin on Instagram page, Aisha captioned it; “When you call me ashawo, you no lie. I get one customer and I dey service am well. Na correct Edo woman I be! Anyday wey I want increase the number, you no get capacity take dey for my customer base.”
Aliu, a chartered accountant and Aisha are blessed with 2 children namely;
- Aliyah
- Amir
Source of Wealth
Aisha in one of her interviews stated that her major focus is to start a business after school because she never sees herself working for anybody. So after schooling, she went into business, which is still her primary source of income.
She is currently the CEO of Aliyyah and Amir Ventures Limited which deal in general merchandize, distribution and trading of raw materials in Nigeria.
She also runs Oceangate Distribution Service which deals in Tomato importation.
Activism
Aisha co-founded the BBOG (Bring Back Our Girls) Movement with Oby Ezikwesili to demand the release of over 200 girls abducted in Chibok in 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists.
She’s challenged the government to wake up to the responsibility of releasing the girls from their abductors.
Also, during the EndSARS protest in October 2020, Aisha was at the forefront to task the government on good governance and put a stop to Police brutality against innocent Nigerians.
Till date, Aisha has always spoken against bad governance, tasking the government to take responsibility.
Controversy
In 2021, she was criticised for her tweets about the LGBTQ community.
In the January 11, 2021 tweet, she noted that same-sex marriages weren’t “a new discovery” in the country and that it was freely practised in the past, some of which she even witnessed. The post which immediately went viral was faulted by Muslim conservatives who accused her of trying to push for the acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
It also drew heavy criticism from the Nigerian queer community after some of her old tweets resurfaced where she claimed sexual molestation of boys was responsible for homosexuality.
Political affiliation
Aisha Yesefu has clarified she is not interested in any position in the 2023 general elections but based on her tweets over the past few months, we can confirm she is a strong supporter of Peter Obi, former Anambra state governor and presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP).
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. NewsWireNGR or its editorial team cannot independently verify all details.
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