Beyond the sharp elegant looks and no business as usual composure. It’s easy to tell Salamatu Baiwa’s heart beat for the less privileged in the society, those she calls the Talakawas. She believe that there are three grand essentials to happiness in life and destiny and these are; something to do, something to love and something to hope for…  Her ever smiling eyes light up each time you mention the plight of the less privileged and this epitomizes her passion which she has translated in establishing the Hajia Salamatu Baiwa Umar – Eluma Foundation.(HSBF)

Born in Anyigba in Egume district of Dekina LGA kogi state Nigeria, to parents of Igala descent, she lives in Abuja but keeps a busy schedule and straddles many states of Nigeria and countries abroad, sometimes travelling several flights a week and holding meetings till 1 am in the mornings.

 Salamatu holds dearly the canon that an equal world is an enabled world and strictly adheres to the law of nature that says “when you wish good for others, good things come back to you”!

These principles and maxims, she seeks to explore and interpret things using her HSB foundation in making life better for the less privileged, which is her nexus to a better life in the future.

Besides her love for the less privileged, she is also a social crusader and a campaigner for gender equality, women inclusiveness in political leadership. This campaign catapulted her to the exalted position of the national woman leader of the Nigeria ruling party, the all progressive congress (APC). A position she held until recently when the National Executive was dissolved.

Being a woman of quiet disposition that she is, she has once again retired back to her quiet life, pursuing her passion with mental acuity and stoic disposition.

” Some people give up after they fall, just because you have fallen doesn’t mean that you have to stay down, find a way to get back up……. Keep going” Salamatu is a stickler for gender equality which is the crux of her campaign for women inclusiveness’ in governance. She celebrates “the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of her fellow women and is always provoking a call to action for accelerating gender equality.

In her message to women in Nigeria on the occasion of the celebration of the international women’s day 2020, she referenced the world economic forum’s global Gender gap report 2020 which indicates that it will “take about 99.5 years to make gender equality a reality” she captured this sad and depressing reality and lamented that a lot of women of this age and disposition “may not be alive to witness women in more favorable conditions “.

According to her, “the report ranked 153 countries in regard to women welfare in four dimensions, Economic participation, Educational attainment, Health and survival and political empowerment.  Nigeria sadly was ranked 128 over all in the four dimensions. However compared to previous years, Nigeria has slightly improved in the dimension of economic participation and opportunities for women where we now rank 38.

This dismal report, for Salamatu was a call to work more in this regard as if tomorrow does not exist.

She advocates that women should be seen as “capable of playing significant role in our homes workplaces and even in politics”. Only then will our country be better.