Hailing from Abi Local Government Area in Cross River State, Betta Edu’s educational journey began with the completion of her secondary education in 2001 at the Federal Government Girls College, Calabar. Her academic pursuits led her to the University of Calabar, where she obtained her first degree in medicine and surgery in 2009.

Edu’s commitment to public health and development led her to pursue further education. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health for Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, a master’s degree in Public Health in Developing Countries from the same institution, and a Doctor of Public Health from Texila American University.

In 2015, Betta Edu made history by becoming the youngest person to be appointed as Special Adviser to the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Benedict Ayade, with a focus on Community and Primary Healthcare.

Her contributions and leadership were further recognized when the state Women Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across all 36 states in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), passed a vote of confidence on Betta Edu. They expressed their support during a visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in July 2023.

In the same month, the Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Maryam Babangida National Center For Women Development and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, awarded Betta Edu the prestigious Award of Excellence in Leadership for her dedication to championing the cause of empowering women, children, and other vulnerable groups in Nigeria.

July 2023 marked another significant moment in Betta Edu’s political journey. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu nominated her for a ministerial position as the Nigerian Senate unveiled 28 nominees for ministerial appointment. This historic nomination made her the first female minister from Cross River State and the youngest minister at the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria in the Fourth Nigerian Republic.

In August 2023, Betta Edu was sworn in as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. Her remarkable journey from a local community in Cross River State to a national figure highlights her dedication to public service, women’s rights, and her commitment to making a positive impact in the lives of Nigerians. Her story is a testament to the potential of dedicated and driven individuals in the political landscape of Nigeria.

The wind of change is blowing in West Africa
Behold, the Sahel is open for emancipation
Tell the puppets still hanging in West Africa
That, this wind will blow to the coast
It is an unstoppable wave of revolution
There will be a definite domino effect

ECOWAS assumes it will be a clean walk
Once it starts, it will be another Ukraine
NATO will back us to kill our brothers
We will strengthen NATO’s claws for exploitation
Buy their weapons and ensure Niger remains a milking cow
While the Sahel keeps the status as a world poverty capital

The Nigerien people did not invite ECOWAS
If democracy is about people’s choices
Let the people decide their own destiny
Nigerians did and will not support this proxy war
We the people have no support for this bullying
We will not support or fight a proxy war
We are not fools to fight someone else’s war
West Africa should solve its problems
In its own way without the prompting of the West
Let’s all the revolutionary youths of the Sahel rise
The future of the Sahel begins now.
We stand with the people of Niger!

© Yusuf M. Adamu
August 11, 2023

Confusion, frustration and exhaustion
Anger enveloping our emotions
Ensuring ordinary Nigerians become helpless
Because of someone’s desire for revenge

A health facility would only accept cash
A woman had to die, there is no cash
A dead person could not be buried
A white shroud required, also need cash

A marriage could not be solemnized
Dowry must be paid in cash
There is no cash, old or newly designed
What a tragedy for the couple and family?

Small businesses have closed
People have to walk for lack of cash
even with money at bank, one is cashless
One cannot withdraw one’s own money

Don’t talk about our relatives in rural areas
Life is made unbearable and maddening
The political leaders don’t care about us
Yet they want us to give them our votes

Ordinary Nigerians have all become collaterals
Because the old shark want to punish his enemies
At the expense of all of us who have not offended him
Today, we are the collateral damage of the old shark

February 9, 2023
10:35pm
© Yusuf M. Adamu