Aisha Yesufu is a Nigerian activist and businesswoman known for her fight against injustice and speaking against the wrongs in society.
Her outspokenness and passion for justice has seen her take the helm at the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign and the End SARS movement.
Here are some facts to know about her.
1. Aisha Yesufu was born in December 1973 to the family of Alhaji Ahmad Tijjani Muhammad and Hajiya Zainab Muhammad nee Amiebenomo in Kano State.
2. She hails from Agbede in Edo State.
3. She is the first child of her parents.
4. By the time she was eleven years old, she had no female friends, as they had all either married or died in childbirth.
5. She almost got married while in secondary school as a JSS2 student.
6. Her application to the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1991 was rejected because of her gender.
7. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Bayero University in 1999. She also has a master’s degree in pharmaceutical microbiology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
8. Yesufu ventured into business right after completion of her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program in 2000 and has never worked for anyone in her life.
9. She gained prominence in 2014 as the co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement after the Chibok Girls were abducted and was at the forefront of the campaign.
10. Yesufu has been a prominent member of the End SARS movement since 2017.
11. She is the founder of Citizens Hub, a not-for-profit organization, and also the convener of #NigeriansMarchAgainstCorruption, a peaceful demonstration against corruption within the Nigerian public sector.
12. She met her husband, Aliu Osigwe Yesufu, a chartered accountant, at her uncle’s bachelor’s party in 1996 at the age of 24.
13. They started dating in August 1997 and got married in 2018. They celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in April 2018.
14. She is blessed with two children, Amir and Aliyyah Yesufu.
15. Yesufu was listed on the BBC’s 100 Women list in 2020.
