Betta Edu: Exemplifying the Strength of a Woman

Azogor Ideba

Nobody has ever disputed the fact that women are the weaker vessels. Yet only few have probed further in order to evaluate the term weakness. However, do experts not warn us that the strongest part of a chain is its weakest point?

At the helms of Women Affairs in the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a dynamic and energetic young woman called Dr. Betta Edu who has aptly taken the status of an Amazon. Before emerging as the party’s youngest national women leader, Betta was DG Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency. She was subsequently elevated to the position of commissioner for health (the youngest in history) having performed exceptionally in her previous role. Today, she is creditably championing the cause of women at the national stage through the APC.

Hitherto, Betta had trodden where others dreaded and had surmounted numerous challenges while still standing tall in a seemingly male dominated society. Bold and courageous but not without initial resolve backed by a burning zeal to succeed, betta became the cynosure of all eyes in the governance and politics of Cross River State. Naturally, she is a ‘magnet’ of attention because of her stunning beauty, intelligence and diligence which have become her personae. Her innate qualities showed as soon as you came in contact with her.

An accomplished medical doctor, resilient and dogged, she, indeed, had weathered every storm, trials and tribulations that strongly tested her faith and solemn convictions. In all these, the strength of a woman is discernible.

A popular American Music icon once did a blockbuster which he titled: ‘strength of a woman’. This hit song by shaggy is not only philosophical and metaphorical but also appeals to the whole essence of creation and its beauty by the artistry of God. This song also brought to the fore the gender question in the society even though it came from a society where an average woman is given equal opportunity to ascend same ladder with the male counterpart. From American, shaggy took his thought-provoking message to the rest of the world through that scintillating hit.

Take it or leave it, the strength of woman is innate, universal and divine. The same strength Eve possessed is the same strength that runs in the veins of every woman, no matter where you come from, colour, race or religion. It is the same strength that exerts force and makes things to begin to a happen.
Angela Merkel of Germany has got it; Sirleaf Helen Johnson has got. It is what propelled Condoleezza Rice and stood Hilary Clinton tall even among the males. What about our own Aisha Buhari, Oluremi Tinubu, late Dora Akunyili and Oby Ezekwesili, it is in them; Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Amina Mohammed and Chimamanda Adichie and numerous others who have become sources of pride for Nigeria both home and abroad; it is that same strength that has pushed them to great heights. That strength is in every woman.

I remember the first lines of Shaggy’s strength of a woman.
“So amazing how
The world was made
I wonder if God is a woman…”

If you take insightful look at the above lines, you will agree that inasmuch as it is philosophical, it also raises a fundamental question which leaves one to really ponder. The world is likened to the beauty of a woman. So amazing because a woman radiates beauty in every ramification with an irresistible charm. But it is not the charm or the beauty that breaks the ice; it is the resilience.

Betta is a woman with a heart of gold. Her disposition to helping the less privileged to achieve their lives’ ambition is second to none. Where you come from is immaterial to Betta as long as you have a genuine need. Likened to mother Theresa, humanity runs in her veins.

Betta has continued to demonstrate patriotism and a firm belief in the Nigeria project. Her passion in defense and emancipation of the womenfolk has been spectacular. She has proven in many instances that she is first a woman before becoming the women leader of the biggest political party in Africa. She strongly believes the country will get better when every woman show support for its growth process.

“Nigerian women must rise to the occasion and stand by themselves in this quest for a fair deal for women. Those seeking elective positions should be encouraged and supported. For if we come together and work in one accord, we can achieve what we want because that strength is in all of us”, she once said.

According to her, “oppression or fear shouldn’t deter us. We must believe that we are insurmountable and there is no war we cannot win as long as it is a just cause”.

A friend when asked, described Dr. Betta Edu as an “amazon, extremely humble, good listener, lavishly generous and a near perfect and almost impeccable woman”.

Betta Edu indeed, has pulled many out of life’s valleys of lack and poverty. With a selfless gusto driven by a legendary purpose, she always left fond memories in the hearts of people she came across. She is indeed a beacon of hope and inspiration for younger generation of women.