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<p>By Dr Binta Bala</p><div class="qrZXwFgu" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>Thirty-five years ago, Binta Bala walked into the Kano State Ministry of Education with little more than an SSCE certificate, determination and a dream of building a meaningful career.</p>
<p>She entered the civil service on 18 August 1991 as a Grade Level 03 Lab Attendant.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, 18 August 2026, exactly 35 years later, she closed that chapter of her life in a position that would have seemed distant at the beginning of her journey: a substantive Director on Grade Level 16, with a PhD, and with responsibility for the Department of Persons with Special Needs under the Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Persons with Special Needs.</p><div class="gitPmz5z" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>For Bala, the occasion was more than a retirement. It was a moment of reflection on a journey defined by perseverance, education, public service and an unyielding refusal to allow disability to determine the boundaries of her life.</p>
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<p>“Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah,” she said as she reflected on the milestone.</p>
<p>Her story is particularly significant because she is a woman living with a physical disability and a survivor of polio. She walks with the support of a walking stick, but over the years, that walking stick became less a symbol of limitation than a reminder of how far she had travelled.</p>
<p>From a Humble Beginning</p>
<p>When Bala joined the civil service in 1991, she could not have known that her career would eventually take her to the highest professional levels of her service.</p>
<p>Her first position was modest: Lab Attendant, Grade Level 03.</p>
<p>But what she lacked in rank, she made up for in ambition and determination.</p>
<p>The years that followed brought professional advancement, further education, new responsibilities and challenges. Step by step, Bala continued to build her career, refusing to allow the barriers associated with disability to define her prospects.</p>
<p>“I resisted. I persevered. I kept moving forward,” she recalled.</p>
<p>Her progress eventually took her from the entry level of the civil service to Grade Level 16, culminating in her appointment as a pioneer Director responsible for Persons with Special Needs.</p>
<p>Along the way, she also attained a PhD, transforming a career that began with an SSCE certificate into one marked by academic achievement and professional leadership.</p>
<p>Disability Was Never the Destination</p>
<p>Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Bala’s story is the way she confronted the expectations often imposed on people living with disabilities.</p>
<p>As a polio survivor with a physical disability, she experienced obstacles that could easily have discouraged her. But she chose to concentrate on what she could accomplish rather than what others might have considered impossible.</p>
<p>“My walking stick may have supported my steps, but faith, determination, courage, education, and resilience carried me much further,” she said.</p>
<p>That philosophy became central to her professional life.</p>
<p>Rather than viewing disability as a barrier to achievement, Bala turned her personal experience into a source of strength and a deeper understanding of the struggles faced by persons with special needs.</p>
<p>Her eventual responsibility for the Department of Persons with Special Needs therefore carried a significance beyond the title of the office. It placed someone who had personally experienced the challenges of disability in a position to advocate for inclusion, accessibility and empowerment.</p>
<p>A Career Built Around Service</p>
<p>For Bala, the measure of a successful career was never simply the position attained.</p>
<p>She believes the real reward was the opportunity to serve people and contribute to improving their lives.</p>
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<p>“My greatest reward has never been the positions I attained, but the opportunity to serve humanity, promote inclusion, challenge barriers, and contribute to the lives of others,” she said.</p>
<p>During her years in public service, she interacted with children, women and persons with special needs whose experiences reinforced her belief that inclusion must go beyond policy statements.</p>
<p>It must be reflected in opportunities, access, dignity and meaningful participation in society.</p>
<p>She said the people whose lives she touched also taught her important lessons about resilience and courage.</p>
<p>“To every child, woman, and person with special needs whose life we have touched, thank you for teaching me resilience, courage, and the true meaning of service,” she said.</p>
<p>Gratitude to Those Who Walked With Her</p>
<p>As she marked the end of her formal civil service career, Bala did not view her achievement as a solitary accomplishment.</p>
<p>She acknowledged the role played by her family, colleagues, mentors, friends and well-wishers throughout the 35-year journey.</p>
<p>She particularly thanked her family for their sacrifices, prayers and unwavering support.</p>
<p>“Thank you for believing in my ability rather than focusing on my disability,” she said.</p>
<p>She also expressed appreciation to colleagues and mentors who made her professional journey easier and more meaningful.</p>
<p>For a career spanning three and a half decades, such relationships were undoubtedly an important part of the story.</p>
<p>A Farewell Without Bitterness</p>
<p>Retirement also gave Bala an opportunity to look back at the difficult moments of her career with honesty and humility.</p>
<p>She acknowledged that, like anyone who has spent decades working with people, there may have been moments when disagreements occurred or people were hurt.</p>
<p>In a gesture of reconciliation, she apologised to anyone she may have offended, disappointed or wronged during her years of service, whether knowingly or unknowingly.</p>
<p>At the same time, she offered forgiveness to those who may have wronged or hurt her.</p>
<p>She said she wanted to leave the past “with a peaceful heart” and move into the next chapter with gratitude, forgiveness and goodwill.</p>
<p>It was perhaps one of the most striking elements of her farewell: after 35 years of navigating the challenges of a public career, she chose not to leave with bitterness, but with peace.</p>
<p>Retirement Is Not the End</p>
<p>Although Bala has retired from active public service, she made it clear that retirement would not mean withdrawing from the cause that has defined much of her professional life.</p>
<p>She pledged to continue supporting Kano State and advocating for the rights, inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities.</p>
<p>“Kano will always have my support and goodwill,” she said.</p>
<p>Her message was particularly directed at persons with disabilities who may have been made to feel that their circumstances determine their future.</p>
<p>“Do not give up. Believe in yourself. Keep moving. Your limitation does not have to be the limit of your destiny,” she said.</p>
<p>It is a message rooted not in theory, but in personal experience.</p>
<p>Bala&#8217;s own career provides the evidence.</p>
<p>She began as a Grade Level 03 Lab Attendant with an SSCE certificate. Thirty-five years later, she retired as a Grade Level 16 Director with a PhD, having led a department dedicated to the very community whose struggles she understood so deeply.</p>
<p>Passing the Baton</p>
<p>As she stepped away from active government service, Bala described the moment as the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.</p>
<p>But she also recognised that the work of inclusion cannot rest on one individual.</p>
<p>“My door remains open. The work of safeguarding and empowering PWDs must continue. I hand the baton to you all,” she said.</p>
<p>That statement perhaps best captures the legacy she hopes to leave behind.</p>
<p>Her story is not simply about career progression from Grade Level 03 to Grade Level 16. It is about what can happen when education, faith, resilience and determination meet opportunity.</p>
<p>It is about a woman who entered public service at the lowest levels and rose through the ranks without allowing disability to become the final word on her potential.</p>
<p>And it is about a career that ultimately came full circle: a polio survivor who once had to navigate the world with a walking stick eventually became a senior public servant responsible for advancing the interests of people living with special needs.</p>
<p>After 35 years, Bala leaves active public service with gratitude rather than regret, forgiveness rather than resentment, and a renewed commitment to the cause of inclusion.</p>
<p>Her final words capture the spirit of the journey:</p>
<p>“35 years of service. One remarkable journey. A lifetime of gratitude. Alhamdulillah.”</p>
<p>And with that, Binta Bala closes one chapter — but not the story.</p>
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