FCT, Abuja – Former military president Ibrahim Babangida has said faith played a central role in his life, and he required his late wife, Maryam, to convert to Islam before they married.
In ‘A Journey in Service: An Autobiography of Ibrahim Babangida’, the former Nigerian leader explained that it was not difficult for Maryam—who had both Christian and Muslim family influences—to convert to Islam after their marriage.
The Punch quoted Babangida as saying:
“I shared with her the fact that my faith was an integral and essential part of my life and that I would require her to convert to Islam.
“Praise be to Allah; this was not a difficult decision for Maria. Being part-Christian and part-Muslim at birth and already living in a Muslim household, it was never going to be wholly uncharted territory for her.
“She adapted with relative ease to married life as a Muslim.”
Babangida also assured her he would not take multiple wives, a decision he believed contributed to their strong marriage.
On September 6, 1969, shortly before her 21st birthday, Maryam married Babangida. They had four children, boys Mohammed and Aminu, and girls, Aisha and Halima.
Maryam died aged 61 from ovarian cancer on December 27, 2009, in a Los Angeles, California, hospital in the United States (US). Her husband was at her side as she died.
Snapshot of Maryam Babangida
Born Maria Ndidi Okogwu, Maryam was credited with creating the position of first lady of Nigeria.
As first lady, she launched many programmes to improve the lives of women. The “Maryam Phenomenon” became a celebrity and “an icon of beauty, fashion and style”, a position she retained after her husband’s exit from power.
As first lady of Nigeria between 1985 and 1993, she championed women’s issues vigorously.
She founded the Better Life Programme for Rural Women in 1987 which launched many co-operatives, cottage industries, farms and gardens, shops and markets, women’s centres and social welfare programmes.
In the same vein, the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women’s Development was established in 1993 for research, training, and to mobilise women towards self-emancipation.
Falana hits Babangida
Falana said Babangida detained him and other young Nigerians for speaking up against his government, adding that Babangida deliberately killed his best man, Major-General Mamman Jiya Vatsa—contrary to the claim that the slain soldier was involved in a coup.
