Word: hafsat
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...should have been one of the most joyous weeks of her life. Hafsat Abiola, an accomplished Harvard senior with a semester of studies left to go, planned to attend the 1996 graduation with her class. The best part was that her mother Kudirat--whom she hadn't seen in an entire year--would be flying in for a visit...
...Then Hafsat got a phone call demanding she fly to Washington to meet with family friends. When she arrived, they sat her down and told her that her mother had been gunned down in Lagos...
Luckily for supporters of Nigerian democracy, Hafsat Abiola is no ordinary daughter. With delicate microbraids that frame her high cheekbones, she is strikingly beautiful--and almost painfully soft-spoken. But when the 23-year-old takes to stages around the U.S., she transforms herself into a firebrand for African democracy. In the past month alone, she's spoken at the Mobil shareholders' meeting, lectured to black church leaders and led a vigil in front of the White House--all with the aim of raising U.S. support for the Nigerian pro-democracy movement. She's even struggling to fund...
Nigeria's suffering seems far away from the home Hafsat shares with her siblings. It's furnished sparely, but with artistic flair. The living room holds futons with patterned slipcovers; and the walls have awards given posthumously to their mother. Each night Hafsat quizzes Hadi, 11, and Mumuni, 13, about whether they've done their homework. Khafila, a witty and irreverent 19-year-old, is studying to be an opera singer at Catholic University; and Moriam, who just turned 18, is at home for the summer from Connecticut College. Hafsat's daily routine is more stable than anyone could have...
Last year Hafsat Abiola helped focus the Harvard campus on issues in Nigeria. She also protested the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in Nigeria in 1995, according to Grewal, who also charged that Shell was complicit in the hangings...