Buhari sends belated birthday wishes to Maryam Uwais

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent belated birthday wishes to Mrs Maryam Wali Uwais, his Special Adviser on Social Investments.

Uwais, a lawyer, has been in charge of the signature social investment programme of the Buhari administration since 2016, until the programme was wheeled under the new ministry of humanitarian affairs of Sadiya Umar Farouk.

Maryam Uwais clocked 60 years on Tuesday, with the social media awash with photographs of the low key celebration of the occasion.

But today, the president in a message described her as a hardworking and visionary lady who shares his view of a fair and equitable society in which the poor and the less privileged are not deprived of their due rights.

“Mrs Uwais has been at the forefront of implementing the administration’s Social Investment Programmes, which has achieved significant milestones in creating entrepreneurs, successful agriculturists and tech leaders”, Buhari acknowledged.

He wished Uwais more years of service to humanity, good health and fulfilment.

Uwais has over over 39 years practice as a lawyer, including working at the Kano State Ministry of Justice, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

She studied at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1981. In 1985, she obtained an LLM.

She was awarded a certificate in Advanced Practice and Procedure in 1985 and Legal Drafting in 1989, from the Nigeria Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.

She served as a Principal Partner of Wali Uwais & Co, an Abuja-based law firm. Before then, she had served on the Council of the National Human Rights Commission, where she also worked as Special Rapporteur on Child Rights; the Board of the Justice Research Institute, the Kukah Centre as well as the Coalition Against Tobacco, amongst others.

She also served on Kano State Almajiri Committee, President Goodluck Johnathan’s Presidential Advisory Council, The Northern Nigeria Governor’s Committee on Reconciliation, Security Healing, as well as the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child for five years.

She founded the Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative in December 2009, which targets the conditions of women and children in education, healthcare and empowerment.

Maryam Uwais has also worked as a consultant to the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, UNICEF, the World Bank, and DfID. She has written and published several articles on economic and social rights, interfaith dialogue, child justice administration and good governance.

She was before her appointment a Non-Executive Director and Member of Board of Directors of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC.