By Y.J Itopa
Princess Nana Hauwa Yusuff, does not proclaim herself a feminist in the fashion that many women in her upscale class often does, and loudly so. Bus as the First female Director General of the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Kogi), she has done something none of her male predecessors had done before her, a scintillating performance that Gender amazons would say with pride: ” What a man can do, a woman can do, if not better.”
Even if the Princess of the State Broadcast didn’t boisterously say so, the hen pidgeon of what “My cock counterpart can do, I can do, if not better” flew high , cooed and flapped triumphant wings in the air on the day Mrs Yusuff held the maiden twin events at the Broadcasting Corporation, Lokoja.
In terms of performances, the past male Heads of the Radio were often being applauded as Excellent Professional Broadcast journalists or administrators. Yet, what the Management and Staff members of Radio Kogi refer to today as ” RADIO KOGI MAIDEN END OF THE YEAR GET-TOGETHER and” THE EBIRA COMMUNITY MAIDEN WELFARE DAY OF RADIO KOGI” as initiatives or ideas, did not quite cross the minds of Princess Yusuff’s Radio managership forerunners.
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The veteran radio managers must have held many beautiful and intellectual broadcast events that can be favourable compare to similar ones elsewhere. Perhaps, the trouble with their activities at the Radio in their time was that theirs (events ) did not carry the Radio Staff-cherished word: ” Maiden. “Never before,” said in admiration of a performer, whose gender hardly has easy chance in a male-dominated society, carries a feminist fervour, though subdued by the celebrant.
December 10, 2025, the premises of the Princess Nana Hauwa Yusuf’s Radio Kogi became a beehive of activities. And under an attractive weather arrived illustrious guests. The history -making Secretary to Kogi State, Mrs. Folashade Ayoade Ph.D and the Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communications, Evangelist Kinsley Fanwo, ably represented by his Technical Assistant to the Ministry, Ebenezer Adurodija, served as the ear and eye of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, at the event. And they were happy with Mrs Yusuf over her performance within a space of one year in the saddle of the Radio Headship
Hon Bode Ogumola of Kogi State House of Assembly, Odeyi Anebira of Lokoja, HRH. Abdulkareem Obeito, Muhamed Baba Sadiq, a Senior Lecturer from Kogi State Polytechnic and the Guest Speaker at the occasion, the husband of the celebrant, Comrade Haroon Yusuff Opotu, alongside his retinue of members from his association, Kogi Central Think-tank Forum, other dignitaries and different cultural groups thronged Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, to show love and support to its First Female Director General and her happy and appreciative staff members.
As the event unfolded, many cultural earmarks of Ebira traditional heritages simply characterised the “Ebira Community maiden Welfare Day.” Apart from Baba-Sadiq’s lecture which discussed the beauty of Ebira culture and the need to preserve it with pride, asked the people to be proud of it and promote it anywhere they may find themselves within and outside the country. The Ebira people in Radio Kogi unveiled one of their local cuisines, Apapa, which Ebira people, both at home and in the Diaspora eat with relish.
Apapa is made from beans. The Ebira mode of kolanut breaking and prayers to God , gods, goddesses, the mother earth, spirits and the Anyene, the strong woman or benevolent witches, was part of the Ebira Day idiosyncrasies. Hajia Nana Hauwa Yusuff herself, weaving a few dancing steps presented the kolanut in an earthen bowl of water to the Odeyi Anebira of Lokoja, HRH Abdulkareem Obeito, as the Royal Father of the day for the prayers. The Ebira monarch of Lokoja said the prayers to the admiration of the people.
One other important feature of the occasion was the generous display of the Ebira identity cloth in which the Radio Staff and their friends were dressed. The adoption and the use of the identity attire which has four distinct colours – white, black, red and blue was recently promoted and reinforced by Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, His Royal Majesty, Ahmed Tijani Anaje.
The new Ebira identity cloth dethroned the earlier one that was dominated by colours white, black and brown which resembled the identity cloth of the Tiv people of Benue. Though the colour was original to Ebira people, it was Tiv people who first officially adopted it and popularized it as their identity cloth colour-white and black –
In fact, it was a popular story in Ebira that after the choice of the colour, it was in Ebiraland the Tiv people came to get the first sets of the tribal identity clothing, knowing that Ebira women right from their days in Kwararafa Kingdom, were the famous cloth weavers. Ohinoyi’s action in not allowing his people to ape other people’s identity colour has continued to gladden people’s hearts.
The one in vogue now is so splendid that its Ebira wearer stands out glowingly like a halo in the midst of other people in their ethnicity identity dresses. It was that ethnic pride via identity wears that the Kogi State Director General, Princess Nana Hauwa Yusuff, reinforced with radiance at the Radio to say that what a man can do, a woman can do, if not better. This slant of feminism is welcoming.
Mrs Yusuff captures the essence of Ebira culture in the following lines: “Ebira culture is a treasure – known for its deep respect for community, its vibrant music, its intrinsic weaving traditions and its rich proverbs that guide our daily lives. As we celebrate, we remember that culture is not just what we inherit. It is what we nurture and pass on the upcoming generations . ….let us dance to the rhythms that tell our story, let us speak our language boldly and let us teach our children to carry on with pride, confidence and dignity.” She concluded.
January 1st, 2026. Another maiden event called “Maiden End of the year Get-together was held, as the name signifies, to bring her staff together, dine and wine with them in appreciation of their various sacrifices and contributions to the success of her administration of the Broadcast station.
It was well attended like the one before. Commissioners, Special advisers, Senior special Assistanta, Labour leaders, Heads of Agencies and Parastatals and other people of good will were at the Radio to appreciate her for the good work, according to their goodwill messages. The Provost of College of Education, Ankpa, Dr. Paul Femi Fashaba was also at the occasion to solidarise with her.
Eexcerpts from her remarks: “THE MAIDEN END OF THE YEAR GET-TOGETHER is the first of its kind in our Radio Station. We organized it to give us the opportunity to reflect on the achievements we have recorded since my assumption of Office and to also appreciate our Management and staff for their dedication and commitment to the effective and efficient running of the Corporation, especially for the effort and sacrifices they make to ensure the Station continues to be identified with high quality contents in its news sources, programmes and packaging. We also seize this opportunity to reflect on challenges and how to collectively surmount them.”
The Director General did not conclude her speech without giving copious thanks to Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, for his interventions for the State foremost Broadcast Station which have helped her to keep the Station afloat.
Events such as this will spur workers to rededicate themselves to duties for more productivity. It means the Head is sentient to the yearnings of his or her workers. Such a perceptive leader will have a happy, loving and united team to lead. The two events tell the leadership story of the first female Head of Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Kogi).
