Do you remember ‘The Virtuous Woman’ and ‘The Stillborn’ that most of us read back in school? This is especially for the “90’s kids” when our main entertainment sources were books, before social media came to rule and books are now in surplus in the market. But, to many of us, Zaynab Alkali’s works have stuck in our memories, and she has been the inspiration for many Nigerian writers today. 

Today on Deen Queens, we are delving into the lives of one of our favourite authors of all time.

First off, who is Zaynab Alkali?

Zaynab Alkali was born in Borno State in 1950, and soon after, her family relocated to Adamawa State (then known as Gongola State). She attended Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Ilorin and has two degrees, one from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and then got her doctorate in African studies from the same institution. Her other degree came from Bayero University, Kano (BUK), where she studied English language and earned a doctorate.

The educational system was where she began her career. Her first start was at the Shekara Girls’ Boarding School, where she was the Principal and became a lecturer in English at two different universities in Nigeria.

She has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Maiduguri in the English department for 22 years. She proceeded to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency as a Deputy Director in Abuja in 2000, working there for three years until she moved to Nassarawa State University.

She scaled through as a Professor of English Language and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Nassarawa State University, Keffi, where she taught creative writing. She was also the Dean of the School of Post-Graduate Studies at the same institution.

Zaynab Alkali was married to the former vice-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, late Professor Nur Alkali and has six children by him. 

Zaynab Alkali’s Notable Works

Zaynab’s most popular works are The Stillborn (1984) and The Virtuous Woman (1987). Her other works include Cobwebs and others, The Descendants (2005), The Initiates (2007), and Invisible Borders. Three of these books have won prizes; the Stillborn won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for the Best Novel of the Year, The Virtuous Woman won the Spectrum Award (1978-2002), and Cobwebs and others (1997) also won the ANA Award. 

In her two popular books, there is a feminist undertone that shows that a woman’s greatest tool to break female disempowerment is her education and also sensitizing women to the role of them in society, transcending beyond lines created by chauvinism and females embodying their individuality. 

Bringing a long history of education to the table, she is the Proprietress of Zyba Model Nursery and Primary School, Keffi. She manages her school with her farm, Zyba farms. Her career is a testament to the power of dedication and hard work, honing her talents to show the complexities of human nature. 

Her daughter, Yashua Alkali, says her most common words are, “Hard work never kills anybody.” This has been a mantra that has been imbibed in them as kids and which Yishau now carries on teaching to her staff. She describes Zaynab Alkali’s house as “being filled with bookshelves and books,” which nails the point that to become a great writer, one has to be a voracious reader. She also describes her mother’s good relationship with people as a great quality that would have made her a great psychologist.

In 2000, Zaynab was honoured by President Olusegun Obasanjo with the title “Icon of Hope”. In 2010, she was awarded the Nigerian Woman of Distinction Award on Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee by President Goodluck Jonathan. She was honoured with the Woman of Substance Award by the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako. Not just that, she has received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her numerous contributions to the Nigerian Literary Canon by the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai at the Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (KABAFEST) in 2018.