Abigail - Leadership Initiatives

Meet Abigail Adamu.

Abigail Adamu’s bravery has saved her life many times. But one day, her bravery helped transform her life completely.

Abigail was raising her five children - two boys and three girls - and running a restaurant in Bauchi, Nigeria to support her family. She woke up at 3 am every day to begin cooking and prepare her kids for school, funded in large part by her work at the restaurant.

However, her husband abused her on a weekly basis.

Abigail Adamu owns and operates a small restaurant in Game Village in Bauchi, Nigeria. She has been a Leadership Initiatives beneficiary since 2019.

“It was difficult to bear, but I had to stay for the sake of my children.”

Intimate partner violence is unfortunately common for many women in Nigeria. Almost one in four women have experienced abuse from a partner, and nearly 40% of women justify a husband beating his wife under certain circumstances. But for Abigail, she could justify it no longer.

After being violently slashed, Abigail made the tough decision to escape her husband, leave her life behind, and run away with her children in search of a better future. Divorce on behalf of a wife is often unheard of, and single mothers typically struggle to support their children, especially without the support of a larger family. Abigail’s restaurant was a lifeline for her family and her sanity, but the profit barely covered the cost of schooling and living expenses.

Despite the hard work and struggle, Abigail took in four orphaned children in need of help. She struggled to make ends meet for herself, but the welfare and future of her now nine children was far more important.

Her restaurant, while providing delicious food, lacked water storage, modern cooking equipment, comfortable seating for her customers, and depending on firewood for a heat source, filling her space with smoke. Without the capacity to meet the demand for daily meals, her business remained stagnant and customers craved more.

Seeing Abigail’s dedication, generosity, and resolve, and astounded by her good nature, Leadership Initiatives took on her restaurant as a 2019 Beneficiary Business and partnered her with a team of ambitious and dedicated students in the US. The team not only worked to

design a new logo, menu, and branding package, but they also secured a grant to provide Abigail with a power generator and gas cooking capacity.

Since the updates to the restaurant, “We have received great reviews from customers about how fast and comfortable our restaurant has become.”

Abigail’s continued success and hard work allowed Leadership Initiatives to invest even more in her business, and construction on her own stand-alone restaurant with a larger kitchen, expanded seating area, and sturdier structure began in the summer of 2020. Her new building was completed in the Fall, and is now fully open for business.

Abigail and her four employees, Hannatu, Mary, Endurance, Victoria posing in front of their old restaurant location.

“This is one of the greatest supports any business could receive. My restaurant has seen a total transformation in every aspect and I am most glad to be a success story through this initiative.”

Her restaurant has now grown to employ four members of her community - all young women - who are learning critical business management skills. Abigail feeds an average of over 250 customers a week, providing nutritious and delicious food to an area where food is often scarce.

Abigail and others like her represent the most deserving, yet ultimately underserved, entrepreneurs and heroes in the developing world. You can help Abigail and others like her by supporting Leadership Initiatives and working to build stronger communities worldwide.

Abigail's Restaurant Construction

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Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and are processed in U.S. dollars. Leadership Initiatives is a U.S. nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 52-1497470) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.