By Eric Elezuo
It’s been a whole 25 years since her brainchild, formed out of the need to affect lives positively, and counter the crimes of human trafficking, especially against women, and child labour, came into existence. And for 25 years, the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), has remained in the forefront of challenging inanities and crimes against women and children with tangible results to show. The efforts explain the superhuman qualities of Nigeria’s former Second Lady, and wife of the former Vice President, Hajia Amina Titi Abubakar, Founder of WOTCLEF.
Born Titilayo Albert on June 6, 1951, Hajia Amina Titilayo Atiku-Abubakar is an unrepentant advocate of women and child rights, who has steadfastly carved a niche for herself in the field of humanitarian advocacy, touching lives by miles.
She is the founder of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) and the initiator of the private bill that led to the establishment of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
As Titilayo Albert, she was born into a Christian home of the Albert family, a Yoruba family from Ilesa, Osun state. She was raised in Lagos and had her primary education in Lafiaji, Lagos then proceeded to St. Mary’s Iwo, Osun State for her secondary education up until 1969.In 1971, she married Atiku Abubakar, then a young customs officer, before attending Kaduna Polytechnic. Apart from English, she speaks Yoruba and Hausa languages fluently. She converted from Christianity to Islam as a result of her marriage to the Waziri Adamawa.
After her Polytechnic education, she became a lecturer at her alma mater, the Kaduna State Polytechnic. The need to create WOTCLEF was birthed while she was in Rome to further her education between 1986 and 1987. There, she saw many Nigerian girls on the street, and after making inquiry, she realized that many of the girls were brought into the country to serve as prostitutes for their ‘madams’, and quite often were not paid.In 1999, when her husband, Atiku Abubakar became Nigeria’s vice president, she saw the need to set machinery in motion towards the menace, and so, started an advocacy to end forced prostitution and other forms of human trafficking. She therefore, founded Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), and followed it up with the sponsorship of a private bill for strict punishment for traffickers, and for the establishment of a federal agency, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, responsible for fighting trafficking of persons in Nigeria.She also introduced education courses focused on welcoming and rehabilitating girls repatriated from different countries back home to Nigeria.
Her efforts in this field has earned her recognitions and awards from far and wide including the Annual Nigerian Women’s Award (2002) and the D’linga Award (2010).
Well lettered, Amina Titi Abubakar is the author of a number of publications including:
- Educating the Nigerian Child[15]
- Empower Law to Fight Child Slavery
- Let Us Celebrate Humanity: A collected speeches on women’s right and human trafficking
At the event marking the celebration of the silver jubilee anniversary, notable dignitaries such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, former Fist Ladies and many others, were present.
