Following an impressive recent attendance at the U.K. Parliament, where she received the Africa First Lady of the Year 2024 Award, Her Excellency Dr. Fatima Maada Jabbe Bio, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, yesterday journeyed 50 miles from London to attend activities organized to mark the Black History Month 2024 celebration. Milton Keynes, famed for the Bletchley Park Museum—a key center for codebreaking during World War II—is a beautiful city with a thriving Sierra Leonean population.
As the special guest at the business exhibition organized by the World Media Initiatives CIC, supported by Stemax Consult Healthcare Services, Dr. Fatima Bio received a warm welcome from the vibrant Sierra Leonean community and visited stalls displaying various items, including business ventures, art, and exquisite cultural artifacts.
Black History Month is an annual celebration of the achievements and contributions of Black people, observed every February in the U.S. and Canada, and every October in the UK and other countries. It seeks to honor key figures and moments in Black history, raising awareness of the ongoing struggle against racism and the significant impact of Black individuals on society. The celebration began in 1926 as “Negro History Week,” spearheaded by historian Carter G. Woodson, and became Black History Month in 1976.
Yesterday, inside a splendid, sprawling building evocatively named Unity Place, Dr. Fatima Bio joined her longtime friend, CCLR Nana Ofori-Atta Oguntola, to launch a book authored by the latter.
Nana is a woman of many excellent facets. If Nana were a chain, she would be an endless string of golden nuggets—film producer, creative consultant, trainer, author, university lecturer, etc etc etc. Indeed, this highly community-conscious councillor for the Campbell Park and Old Woughton Ward in Milton Keynes has climbed an admirable mile or two on the ladder of personal development.
Also sharing the stage with Nana and Dr. Fatima Bio was Queen Lodi-Lina Lutterodt Jose. She is a double queen in the sense that, while she is a queen in Ghana, her husband is also a Nigerian king.
Additionally, Cllr. Sam Crooks, former mayor of Milton Keynes, was present on stage. As the son of a bishop who helped to steer Belfast through the peak of the troubles, Cllr. Sam Crooks is familiar with the struggles of ordinary people trying to pave their way through complex hoops of man-made challenges. His love for Africa was cemented during his school days when he began studying what he later considered a doctored version of African history written from a biased prism.
That underlines the importance of writing history from the perspective of those about whom the writing is done. This can only happen when those being discussed are the authors of their own narratives.
Then comes in a determined African woman simply called Nana, armed with a pen fortified with knowledge of her own people!
The book, Twenty-One African Queens Every Young Girl Should Know About, is a powerful celebration of bravery, intelligence, and leadership as demonstrated by the selected African queens. Readers will be jolted and amazed by figures such as Queen Amina Tu of Zazzau in Northern Nigeria, an accomplished military strategist; the intelligent Makeda, Queen of Saba (or Sheba), who ruled Ethiopia for over 50 years and famously visited King Solomon to test his wisdom; Yaa Asantewa, Queen Mother of the Ashanti Empire in Ghana, who valiantly fought against foreign invaders to protect the ancestral Golden Stool, a symbol of Ashanti unity and greatness; Hatshepsut, the peaceful foreign policy expert who co-ruled Egypt with Thutmose III and preferred to fight her “wars” through trade and treaties; and Queen Nandi, the mother of Shaka Zulu, the Zulu nation’s greatest king. Each figure in this book is a towering character who will captivate readers, breaking stereotypes and advancing narratives of empowerment.
The finessefuly-worded foreword of this book, appropriately penned by Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, calls for celebration as well as reflection on the actions and thought processes of “our great queens.” Dr. Fatima Bio encourages readers to “strive to emulate their courage, their resilience, and their unwavering commitment to justice and equality.” She concludes by urging readers to “seize the opportunity to shape a brighter, more inclusive future for generations to come.”
As she elegantly stood on that podium reading from the opening page of the book, it would not have been lost on the audience the remarkable resemblance between this deserving African queen and the historical queens she was reading about; the personality, the passion, and the purpose were all present and palpable! Even as she commented on the commendable exploits of her famed female predecessors, one could clearly read the unmistakable fervor to continue to do good for others.
Through her celebrated actions and activities Dr. Fatima Maada Bio has carved a remarkable pathway to glorify women and celebrate womanhood. From the then potholed streets of Koidu Town in Eastern Sierra Leone, through the arguably challenging terrain of London city, to the mesmerizing halls of the UN Assembly in New York, she has never looked down or looked back. Firmly following the vision of her husband, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, Mrs. Fatima Bio has accomplished feats that only true queens can dare to dream of, much less succeed in achieving.
Twenty-One African Queens Every Young Girl Should Know About is published by VINASHA Publishing UK and is now available on Amazon.
This is a book that should be read and enjoyed by everyone, not just young girls. And that everyone, respectfully, includes you!
