Hadiza Isma El-Rufai

El-Rufai was born Hadiza Isma in Kano, Nigeria, to Mohammed Musa Isma and Amina Iya Isma.[1] Her father was a civil servant.

She has a BSc and MSc in Architecture (1983) and an MBA (1992) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as well as a Masters in Creative Writing (2012) from Bath Spa University, United Kingdom.[2]

From there, she worked as a lecturer at the Department of Architecture at Kaduna Polytechnic, a few more years at the National Electric Power Authority, before working in private practice.

She also speaks French language fluently.

In 1985, she married Mallam Nasir El-Rufai whom she met in 1976 at the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.[3] He later became the Minister of the FCT in Nigeria, and the Governor of Kaduna State.[4]

In 2017, El-Rufai published An Abundance of Scorpions (Ouida Books),[5] a novel inspired by volunteer work the author did at an orphanage in Abuja, and her desire to write about an orphan.[6] It was presented at the 2017 edition of the Aké Arts and Book Festival.[7]

The work has been described by Helon Habila as "a heartbreaking tale of loss and an uplifting story of a woman's strength and determination".[8][9]

Along with her husband, El-Rufai set up Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF) in 2013 to honour her daughter who died of an epileptic seizure in her flat in London in November 2011.[10][11] The literary nonprofit was fully launched in 2017[12][13] with the aims of nurturing creativity in children, "particularly the girl child, between the ages of eight and 19" and young/adult women, providing them "resources with teachers and the books that they need to enhance their literacy."[14][15]

As First Lady of Kaduna State, she has also used the office for philanthropic purposes to benefit the less privileged, donating drugs to sickle cell patients in Kaduna.[16][17][18]

In April 2020, El-Rufai, had responded on twitter to a comment about her son using language with a threat of sexual violence against a critic during an argument on the social network[19] with "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. All is fair in love and war." The remarks caused a lot of backlash on social media, including at Brittle Paper, a literary magazine, where an editorial disagreement between the editors about how to present the report led to the departure of the deputy editor.[20][21] El-Rufai eventually apologised for her comment, saying she had misunderstood the earlier conflict and would "never condone sexual abuse in any shape or form"[22] She later threatened to sue the group that accused her of condoning her son's sexual assault remarks.[23][24]