Humuani was born in Ibadan. She was one of the interesting
and phenomenal Ibadan women in the 20th century. Without acquiring a formal,
western education, she relied solely on her strength of enterprise and she
steadily grew to become one of the wealthiest business women of her time.
Businesswoman, Activist and Philanthropist, pioneered fist
all female girls' school in Ibadan.
Humuani lived life on her terms; the society couldn’t cage
her down or define her by the rules of culture. In 1938, she had commenced to
lead women protesters to demand for better economic conditions and equal pay
for women. She co-founded the NCWS in 1959 and led several protests for Women’s
Rights. She formed the Isabatudeen Women’s Society.
Contrary to the society’s expectation of marriage, Humuani
was married to a younger man whom she respected and her devotion to her spouse
nullified the social assumptions that a powerful woman could not regard her
husband.
In protest against the requirement that her daughter had to
change her name and adopt a new religion in order to attend a Christian
missionary school, Humuani along with other women pioneers founded an all-girls
secondary school. It was called Isabatudeen Girls’ Grammar School.
On January 24, 1964 Isabatudeen Girls’ Grammar School became
the very first Muslim-owned girls’ school in Ibadan with an opening attendance
of 30 female students.
Convinced of the beauty of education, Humuani enrolled in
adult literacy classes that encompassed Islamic and civic-western education. In
her lifetime, she held the title of Otun Iyalode of Ibadan.
In
1961, she was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.
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