I Never Knew Happiness Could Keep Me Awake — Until I Won the Hikayata Competition – Fadila Lamido

ON Thursday, December 11, 2025, the winners of this year’s Hikayata Women’s Short Story Writing Competition, a competition hosted by BBC Hausa, were honored. This is the 10th year of the competition. Fadila Lamido was crowned the 2025 winner. Her runners-up were Jamila Lawal Zango and Hafsat Sani Tanko.

Fadila, who hails from Kaduna, received a cash prize of one million naira and a certificate of achievement from BBC Hausa.

Fim Magazine spoke to Malama Fadila Lamiyo to learn about her background, how she got her start in writing, and how she came to be the first runner-up in this year’s Hikayata competition.

FIM: First, we would like you to introduce yourself to our readers.

 FADILA LAMIDO: Well, first of all, my name is Fadila Lamido, and I am from Kaduna State. I studied up to diploma level.

FIM: How did you get into writing?

FADILA LAMIDO: I used to read a lot of Hausa books, so when I saw that online writing started, I thought about taking a test, because even if there was a story in my head, I remember that I used to pick up a pen and paper to start writing it in a book but I didn’t go beyond two pages and it was heard. But in 2016, I released one page online, by the grace of God, I saw people waiting for its continuation. This gave me the motivation to write the next page; and from there, it was all up to me.

FIM: Did you face any challenges when you started writing?

 FADILA LAMIDO: Honestly, when I started writing, I didn’t face any challenges, because I keep saying that I didn’t start writing with the intention of becoming a writer, I just saw it being written online and I said, let me try writing a story that has been in my head for a long time and see what people would say about it. If I had foreseen any challenges, I probably wouldn’t have continued writing, honestly, because at that time I didn’t even know I had the gift of writing, I thought I was just struggling, but then I saw schools and even writers were talking about the story.

FIM: Have you ever published a book that has reached people’s hearts?

FADILA LAMIDO: I have published one book called ‘Muguwar Miya’.

FIM: Are you a member of any writers’ association?

FADILA LAMIDO: Yes, I do. I am a member of the Adabi Writers Association.

FIM: Is this your first time participating in the Hikayat competition or have you participated before?

FADILA LAMIDO: Yes, I participated in the competition in 2022 (but) even in the first stage, the story did not come out. I did not participate again until 2024; this time it did not even make it to the first stage. Then, in my third entry this year, God gave me victory.

FIM: Did you have any expectations that you would win the competition?

FADILA LAMIDO: By God, I did not have any expectations at all. There were six days left before the competition closed and a writer urged me so I entered, and I told her that time was running out.  She said, “If you make a will, it will not be finished.” By God’s grace, I did not do it to them, I said yes. Only after I sent it, I told her I sent it. Since I sent it and I did not even remember the story, I just continued doing my business, until I was informed that the story was successful and I researched it and read it again.

FIM: When you got the news that the article had made it to the final stage, how did you feel at that time?

FADILA LAMIDO: Can you imagine the joy I felt? Since I was informed at night, that night I could not put it down, as I saw the day, so I saw the night. I did not confirm that joy prevented me from sleeping until that day. I slept like that, thanking God, because the Hikayata competition is a big competition in which thousands of people participate, to say that your story has made it to the final stage is a big deal.

FIM: When it was confirmed that you came first in the competition, how did you feel?

 FADILA LAMIDO: I was so confused that I felt like my legs couldn’t carry me, because I never thought I would come first, even though the writers I was with had guessed it before the announcement, but I didn’t give up, because even coming third is a big achievement for me. Those who win in small competitions are also happy and proud, except for the one who came third in the Hikayata competition, it is a big achievement, and then I managed to come first. Thanks be to God who can do anything when he wants without consulting anyone.

FIM: Now that you have won this competition, has your dream of writing been fulfilled or is there another goal you have set for yourself?

FADILA LAMIDO: In any case, I would say alhamdu lilah. But I would like to see myself become very good at writing films. I can almost say that this is my dream right now.

FIM: What are the steps that writers should follow to succeed in writing?

FADILA LAMIDO: Women writers should be determined, work hard and do research, this will really help.

FIM: There are more female writers now than there are men. Do you see this as a step forward?

FADILA LAMIDO: Well, that’s right, a one-eyed person can see the big picture, isn’t it said that there are more women than men in the world? That’s right everywhere, you can see that there are more women. This is progress.

FIM: Well, thank you.

FADILA LAMIDO: Thank you too.