As the former director of IUIU’s female campus prepared to leave office, all eyes were on Dr Madinah Nabukeera because she was the obvious successor, writes REBECCA MUTONYI.
The Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) is still buzzing about the appointment of Dr Madinah Nabukeera as the director of the institution’s female campus at Kabojja. Many had never heard of her until her appointment by IUIU rector, Dr Ahmed Sengendo, last August.
So, when I was ushered into her office on July 10, 2017, I expected to find a no-nonsense academic, who would give me the customary five minutes of attention and send me on my way. Instead, I found her welcoming and courteous, volunteering information that is personal and revealing about the person behind the hijab.
Before her recent appointment, Dr Nabukeera had worked at IUIU for eight years, starting out as a lecturer, specializing in management studies at Kabojja.
She would rise to become deputy dean and later research coordinator. The 36-year-old Nabukeera adds that she owes much of what she is today to IUIU; having received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Public Administration and a postgraduate diploma in Education Management from the same institution, between 2003 and 2015.
Yet, she says the position is a natural fit. As her predecessor, Dr Halima Akbar Wakabi prepared to leave office, IUIU commenced a search for a new director, and all eyes were on her.
“I was the only PhD holder available that had completed by that time; the policy is that above everything, one must have a PhD to head a campus,” she said.
“I had already served in quite a number of offices … I have headed lecturers through different departments, headed quality assurance and all those are managerial.”
Nabukeera says she is all business when it comes to work, but also a go-getter.
“I’m a person who is business-oriented … this campus needed a person who is in that line in terms of understanding a student as a customer, putting a friendly approach to the policies because that is how business starts,” she explains.
“Sometimes you need to bend policies a bit for you to be in position to succeed. Policies are there but they are not the Qur’an or Bible that they cannot be changed.”
EDUCATION
Nabukeera started her education at Nkoyoyo primary school in Mukono, before she later joined the Hassan Tourabi Education Centre primary school for Qur’an studies, at the urging of her father Hajji Nourdin Matovu, and completed her P7 from there in 1993.
Nabukeera would later join Kasawo SS for both O and A-level, before she joined IUIU. Later, she took up a postgraduate diploma in Public Administration from the University of Malaya in Malaysia, before upgrading to a PhD in the same field at the same institution, earning it in 2016.
Despite her high standing in learning, she is also planning to enroll for a law course in the coming academic year. Nabukeera says her inspiration comes from working in the corporate world and her ambitious nature.
“I’m an ambitious person and I want challenging tasks … in academia you are not promoted unless you prove that you work for it,” she explained.
TRUST
In the short time at the helm, Nabukeera seems to have gained trust of her 1,500 students and 103 staff. One of the lecturers at the campus, Habib Musa Semakula, commended her work ethic.
“Doctor is a team leader, not boss; no one can fear to approach her … she is hardworking, self-motivated and knows how to handle the young people,” he said.
Hindu Nagujja, a Mass Communication student from the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, also has good words for Nabukeera.
“She always listens to students about the issues affecting them and acts positively,” She said.
Hafswa Nseera, also on the same programme as Nagujja, says Nabukeera is understanding and takes students as a priority.
WORK AND FAMILY
Dr Madinah Nabukeera acknowledges that her office comes with lots of responsibilities. She is wife and mother, married to Hussein Lubowa Sebyala, a businessman, majoring in the import business, with whom she has two daughters.
Like most, the balancing act is tough. “I try to go home on time to be with my children and husband,” she says, with a halting smile.
“It is never easy being a mom, trying to juggle a full-time job with family life. I’m motivated by a changed environment from work to a housewife. I don’t run [into office] complaining about hold-ups at work, or missed meals.”
However, she acknowledges that she has a supportive husband. “We do a lot of things together; so, during the day we are communicating and if I’m running late, I inform him and he waits for me … my children don’t go to bed without saying a prayer (duwa for us) … Even when I’m late, they recite on phone before bedtime.”
As I prepare to leave, I notice the corporate chick about her, when she stops to insist that the Semakulas are a modern couple, who occasionally have that special night out to eat out and catch a movie. And she insists on maintaining her surname for ‘personal reasons’.
