“Madam Sabificate”- Shimite Love dies! The news broke on Easter Sunday, the day Christians, the world over celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was like thunderbolts! A family friend, who came visiting on that day broke the news to me while savouring the joy of the risen Christ, in the company of my family in my living room. Immediately, my breath paused for a while. Thereafter, I asked, ‘’is that a joke or what?’’ Then, she gently passed her cell phone to me, showing me the breaking news… “Delta Governor’s Aide, Shimite Bello Love Dies From Suspected Poisoning”… Yours truly, my day was spoilt.
What a sad news it was! What could have caused her death on a day like this? So many questions ran through my mind in quick succession. Oh! What a pity! Beauty and intelligence in one, gone like that; not to be seen or heard again. Does this confirm the popular saying that death is a finality; that dust we are, and to dust we shall all return?
But as the seconds, minutes, hours and days rolled by, the news of her death became a sad reality, too… too difficult to believe; that Shimite has gone the way of all mortals. It is well.
Shimite was one of the few women in politics in Nigeria who dared to hold on in a predominantly patriarchal society where opportunities for women at the top were sparse.
Born to Roseline and the late Jacob Okwunudu Nwakalo of Ebu Kingdom in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, she was one of the rising young female politicians in Nigeria.
With a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, her professional journey started at a very early stage of her life. Information in the public space says she debuted as a TV presenter in 1992 with Clapper Board Television in Lagos on a teenage show called Teeny Boppers. During her undergraduate years, she worked with her older sister, Agatha Amata on the Inside-Out TV series as Program Coordinator/Marketing Executive.
After the mandatory one year national service (NYSC), she created, produced and anchored “African Pot” and “African Pot Extra,” a highly successful television documentary series that promotes traditional African cuisine, tourist attractions, and culture and investment opportunities in Africa. She is the author of two books “African Pot Recipe” and “100 Per cent Nigerian”.
She later ran a travel agency, “Generations Travel Agency and Tours” between 2005 and 2012. She was also a contributing editor for the Travel and Tourism columns with Daily Trust Newspaper, Leadership Newspaper and African Travel Quarterly Magazine. She was an active member of the National Tour Operators of Nigeria (NATOP), National Association of Travel Agencies (NANTA), Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) and Association of Nigerian Journalists in Entertainment and Tourism (ANJET).
Shimite began working with grassroots women and youths in financial literacy, gender mainstreaming, and financial inclusion in the areas of Agriculture, solid minerals, ICT and Agency Banking.
To broaden her knowledge, and skill set to be better prepared to work with and help uplift grassroots women, she trained with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency and of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and other DFID intervention partners. Thereafter, she joined Women in Public Management, Business and Administration (WIMBIZ), Rural Financing of Nigeria (RUFIN), Association of Non-Bank Micro-Finance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN) and Chartered Institute of Commerce, amongst others.
It is on good record that, she founded a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO): Quintessential Businesswomen Association (QBWA), which had a United Nations Consultative Status and worked with different UN organs. QBWA has partnered with several domestic and international organizations, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Bank of Industry (BOI), the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), DFID and USAID.
She was appointed by the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as the Executive Secretary of the state’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency in 2015, engaged in the disbursement of funds across various trades and occupations to all 270 Wards in Delta State, among other assigned duties.
Part of the projects she carried out were the Delta Food Export Initiative, Job Creation Steering Committee, Agricultural Marketing Board and the Delta State Focal Person for the Federal Government Intervention: National Social Safety – Net programme (a social investment program) that oversaw N-Power, Home Grown School Feeding Programme, GEEP, and the Social Register and Cash Transfer.
She had previously worked as a Technical Adviser on Business Ethics and Values under the Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Ethics and Values, Mrs. Sarah Jubril. She also served on committees, including the Steering Committee of USAID/NEXTT (Nigerian Expanded Trade and Transport) -LAKAJI Trade Corridor and the Agric – Business Development. She is an active member of policy formulation and amendment for the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER).
She was also appointed Special Adviser to the incumbent Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori on Trade and Export. In her lifetime, she was a multiple award winner in the areas of Community Development, Micro Finance, Youth and Women Development, Media and Agricultural Development.
Among other things, she would be remembered for her voice in advancing the course of women in politics, and the need for effective women representation in the Legislature.
I recall she was once quoted as saying: “How can they (men) pass meaningful legislation when we don’t have enough women representation? Men cannot pass laws for women on issues that concern us. They think they know us, but they don’t… They do not even have the patience to take the time to understand us, so they can never pass good laws for women.
‘’Women are the ones who will pass laws on issues that concern them, pass laws for children, youths and the underserved. So, we are losing in that regard because we don’t have enough representation to pass strong laws on rape, strong laws on maternity issues as it relates to work, strong laws on child labour and every other thing. With all due respect, these are not bills that men can sponsor and pass into law.”
She vowed that she was in politics to stay and charged the women of Africa, particularly Nigerian women to keep at it and not allow themselves to be browbeat. She also encouraged the few who had made it into politics to be the best they can possibly be, and “deliver.” That, she stated, is the encouragement other women need to venture in.
But in all of these, today you (Shimite) are no more physically with us. Painfully, and with sincerity, it’s hard to say goodnight. All the same, Goodnight, until we meet at the feet of Jesus Christ on resurrection day.
