Beatrice Hamza-Bassey made history recently when she became the first African to be named a partner at New York City-based Hughes Hubbard and Reed, one of the oldest law firms in the United States, and one of the biggest in the world. A 1994 Law graduate of the University of Maiduguri, Beatrice, as she is fondly called, bagged a Master’s degree in Law in 1998 from the prestigious Harvard University in the United States. Married with two children, brilliant Beatrice, 37, had scooped many awards in Nigeria and the United States before bagging the landmark partnership. But in all this, she is humble and gives God the glory. “God uses us as instruments for his glory,” she enthuses.
SHE came to the United States to study law at Master’s level at the prestigious Harvard University and then, as she planned, she would go back home and teach at a university or the Nigerian Law School. But all of that changed when she got an offer to work with one of the oldest law firms in US legal history. And after 10 years, Beatrice Hamza-Bassey has made history as the first Nigerian trained female lawyer to make partnership in a big US law firm.
What about how she decided to study law? At age four, she buffeted a visiting family relative -her aunt staying the night – with so many questions all night that in the morning the relative had to report “your lawyer-daughter” to Beatrice’s mum! That was her first contact with the idea of becoming a lawyer and she stuck with it.
And even after she had settled down in the career as a lawyer in New York City, the way things happen in her life continue to reflect a bigger hand at work. When time came to choose a life partner, an influential Nigerian lawyer who knew her, as a “hardworking lady” was instrumental to introducing her to another “hardworking Nigerian man” also based in New York so that two-hardworking people – the one is a lawyer and the other a doctor- became man and wife in 2004 and now both have two happy children.
It is therefore not surprising that this young woman who has managed to balance a thriving and outstanding legal career with a happy married life that is blessed with two young children is in fact a believer! She mentions the fact that she grew up in a Pentecostal church and in Sunday school classes.
Beatrice is happily married to a Nigerian medical doctor, Yarromi Bassey and with Derrick Alvari, their son and Margaret Annieka, their daughter, are based in New York. Asked how she has been able to cope as a professional woman and as a wife and mother all at once, she points to her faith in God as a driving force.
Said the New York lawyer: “I’m truly blessed. I believe there is God’s hand, and nothing comes to me without God’s blessings.”
As a Christian, Beatrice makes the point that she is a born again “Pentecostal” and that she feels “a particular responsibility to God.” According to her, “I may not live up to every expectation, but will make sure I am successful and that I will be an instrument for God’s glory.”
In her school days in Nigeria, she had been a brilliant student at Queen’s College, Lagos making As in her SSCE – being the first set that sat for the SSCE and not WAEC in 1988. At the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) she graduated with distinction in 1994. She won the Dean’s Prize, the Moot Court Competition and was also the Class Valedictorian. She was also the President of the Law Students Association and Chairperson of the university’s Students’ Union between 1993 and 1994.
At the Nigerian Law School where she graduated with honours in 1995, Hamza-Bassey won the Sir Darnley Alexander Prize, Chief Ernest Shonekan Prize and the FRA Williams prizes.
Hamza-Bassey also loves her community. Although she is based abroad, she is a passionate participant in activities of Nigerians abroad in the US. For instance, she was president of the Nigerian Lawyers Association between 2001 and 2002 and is the current chair of the Association’s Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Mac Arthur Foundation’s Nigeria Higher Education Foundation. “I love to get involved in the community,” she affirms.
She hails from Bora-Kwaya in Kusar Local Government Area of Borno State from a family of educated and Christian parents with six children. Her father was a professor of Geography at the Bayero University, Kano and later the University of Maiduguri where her mother was also the University Librarian. In the Second Republic her father later became an elected federal legislator.
After her faith in God, Hamza-Bassey points to mum’s influence. “Mum has been a very positive influence in my life.” She recalls how it was her mother’s idea that she should attend secondary education in Lagos, at the famous Queen’s College, even though the family was mainly based in Maiduguri.
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An Article by Laolu Akande, Culled from the Guardian Newspaper.
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