By Habeebah Ashiru
In the past few years, Muslim women have been altering the discourse.
Five months ago, Miss Aminat Yusuf made history at Lagos State University, graduating as the best student with a perfect CGPA of 5.0, breaking a 40-year-old record.
Now the spotlight is on Dr Aminat Ige-Ariyibi, a paragon of success in the face of adversities. Her winning Doctoral Thesis titled “O-Metric Spaces: A Novel Unification and Generalization of Metric-Type Spaces With Applications In Fixed Point Theory” has made headlines in Nigeria national newspapers and her story trending on all social media platforms. Her story is a paradigm for the idea that “As Muslim women, we can achieve success if we set our minds to it”.
Dr Aminat Ige-Ariyibi’s achievement is worthy of far more praise than it has received. Balancing the demands of motherhood, marriage, family, work, running a non-governmental organization and still attaining this remarkable level of success is a testament to her strength and perseverance. It is important to applaud educators like Dr Aminat Ige-Ariyibi who go beyond the traditional role of lecturers and actively contribute to the academic community and the world at large.
Her journey serves as a beacon of hope for those facing obstacles. As a Muslim woman, I’ve witnessed the erosion of limiting narratives, replaced by stories of limitless potential. Dr. Aminat’s success fuels my own aspirations, reminding me that no dream is too lofty and no hurdle is insurmountable.
Let the women draw inspiration from Dr Aminat’s story to be better version of themselves, let the men garner stimulus from her husband, Dr Nasir Ariyibi to give unconditional love and be supportive husbands to their wives. The widowers and divorcees should dust the past off their shoulders and give life a chance.
In the words of Dr Aminat Ige-Ariyibi, “For every step backwards, I took three forward steps of recovery”lies a universal truth: barriers are meant to be dismantled, and our potential knows no bounds.
