<p>A hungry hyena then appeared and ran towards her, ready to devour her.</p><p>Just as the hyena opened its mouth to attack, she woke up in shock.</p><p>Sweat poured down her face, and she trembled.</p><p>At that moment, she heard heavy rain start to fall.</p><p>She slowly got up, pulled the curtains, and closed the window to stop the cold breeze from entering.</p><p>She remained awake until the call to prayer for Fajr.</p><p>By then, the rain had calmed to a light drizzle.</p><p>She performed ablution, prayed, and made lengthy supplications.</p><p>Her dream unsettled her deeply.</p><p>Since she started her career, she had only been working for three years, yet this dream disturbed her more than any other.</p><p>Most of the time, when she had dreams, they would come true.</p><p>The fear from this dream overwhelmed her, and she prayed earnestly for Allah’s protection.</p><p>By 8 AM, she had eaten breakfast, bathed, and dressed. She bid farewell to Gwaggo and left for work.</p><p> </p><p>—</p><p>Mallam Yusuf Nadabo, Zeenatu’s father, was originally from Niger.</p><p>When he first arrived in Kano, he worked as a security guard for a wealthy businessman, Alhaji Badamasi.</p><p>In the same neighborhood, he met his wife, Sa’adatu, who sold kola nuts. That was how they fell in love and got married.</p><p>Sa’adatu was a kind-hearted woman from a very poor background.</p><p>Two months into their courtship, they got married.</p><p>They only had a simple mattress as furniture—there was no money for decorations.</p><p>Even the mattress was bought using the little savings from Yusuf’s dowry payment.</p><p>They lived in the boys’ quarters of Alhaji Badamasi’s house.</p><p>After two years of marriage, Allah blessed them with a baby boy named Haruna.</p><p>Unfortunately, at a year and a half old, he died from smallpox.</p><p>For five years, they had no other children.</p><p>Then, Allah blessed them with Zeenatu.</p><p>During that time, Yusuf managed to buy a small two-room house.</p><p>That’s when they moved out of the boys’ quarters.</p><p>When Zeenatu was ten, her father was killed.</p><p>Armed robbers attacked Alhaji Badamasi’s house, killing him and his wife.</p><p>The robbers also shot Yusuf when they saw him hiding in fear.</p><p>Since his death, Gwaggo Sa’adatu had struggled in extreme poverty.</p><p>She had no parents and was an only child, with no strong family support.</p><p>To survive, she did laundry and domestic work for wealthy families.</p><p>Through hard work, she managed to raise Zeenatu with good values.</p><p>Zeenatu loved school and was determined to succeed.</p><p>She took up multiple cleaning jobs to support her education.</p><p>Despite all odds, she completed secondary school and got admitted to study Mass Communication.</p><p>She worked tirelessly, doing odd jobs to pay for her education.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
