Five sisters, who are all doctors in different fields of the medical profession, have become the toast of the internet.
The Aliu family of Nigeria is blazing the trail when it comes to women empowerment.
The all-women doctors from the same family have become torchbearers for others, who have over the decades been sidelined due to inequality and lack of formal education .
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School participation remains a major challenge across developing nations and Nigeria is not an exception, particularly in northern states where the blatant extremism of Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, targets school going girls.
The Aliu Sisters are among the few privileged ones who have broken the glass ceiling to make a case for women in a male-dominated profession.
The five sisters are all doctors with different specialties ranging from a neurosurgeon, an obstetrician, a plastic surgeon, a family physician, and a community health physician.
A former Nigerian vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, took to Twitter urging Nigerians to educate the entire society by simply educating the women.
“Awesome. If you educate a woman, you educate the family and the community,” Atiku wrote.
Awesome. If you educate a woman, you educate the family and the community. https://t.co/t6iIqRGZWb
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 10, 2020
The sisters who are said to be from Okene in Kogi State are known as Salamat Aliu (the first female neurosurgeon in West Africa), Halima Aliu (plastic surgeon), Raliat Aliu (an obstetrician and gynecologist), Khadijah Aliu (a family physician), and Medinah Aliu (public health physician).
“I believe Africa is rising above gender inequality and with examples like this, we can create a more supportive environment for women,” a Twitter user wrote.
An Instagram user, believed to have first shared the photo, also wrote: “……all in one family from the same parent. ”
