Nigeria, May 2 -- "Zamu Daura ma auren dole!" Hajiya Hakama Sidi Ali thundered over the phone after I answered her call. In Hausa, this translates to "We will find and force a wife on you!"

Hajiya Hakama Sidi Ali's warm and forthright demeanour has been a constant source of guidance and inspiration since I received a surprise birthday gift from her in 2016. She is candid and sincere, yet always maintained a cheerful and friendly disposition. These qualities were often discussed by my father, who was her course mate at Bayero University Kano in the early '90s.

Rather than adopting the entitled attitudes of privileged children, Hakama and her siblings, led by her senior brother Hamid Sidi-Ali, embraced simplicity, humility, and amiability...