''I Used To Sing In The Catholic Church Choir'' — Governor El-Rufai's Wife, Hadiza Says In New Interview
Saturday, 22 July 2017
What were some of the memorable moments for you as a child born in the North?
I went to a boarding school that was not elitist as such. It was just like a government-owned school but it was okay by all standards. We were well fed and had a lot of fun. I vividly remember that sometimes, for no reason, the whole school would be in disarray and we would be running up and down because a popular myth held that a certain student on her way to fetch water from the tap encountered two spirits talking. You know there were always those kinds of silly stories in secondary schools. The entire school would just go crazy and we would give the matrons a hard time as well. That was quite memorable for me.As a Muslim woman, how come you attended a Catholic school?
I don’t know how old you are but once upon a time in Nigeria, we were not that divided. I was not the only Muslim girl that attended a Catholic school; there were so many of us. We even used to go to church with Christian girls for their mass, but at the same time, the reverend sisters understood that we are Muslims and there were no coercions on their part to make us convert to Christianity. I used to sing in the choir and I loved the songs and still remember some of them but unfortunately, so many things have come into play and I guess now, parents might be a bit wary of taking a Muslim child to a Christian school and vice-versa.
