Even if you were not born during his regime, his nickname which is the abbreviation of his name, IBB will ring a bell in the ears. The former head of State and elder statesman, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida still command some level of respect from society. The brilliant General who has contributed to the country in no small measure during his reign is still much relevant and powerful 28 years after leaving office. This icon will be turning 80 in few days, and we gathered many activities have been put together to celebrate him. Precisely on August 17, the drums will roll and many Nigerians will have one or two things to say about him. He came, saw and made his mark as a mortal. Despite the fact he made some mistakes, nobody will deny the fact that he was a gallant soldier, a man who dared and, indeed, was one of the greatest Nigerians in history for the close to eight years he ruled Nigeria as a military leader.
No wonder, we have seen in a number of times that his Minna mansion has been a Mecca of sort top politicians. He still commands a lot of attention from many political bigwigs in the country, Even some former heads of States also besiege his Minna home to consult him. Whenever any major election is coming up, photos of political aspirants who have visited the General will flood the media space. Like it or not, At 80, General Ibrahim Babangida’s name still echoes in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
In celebrating the 80th Birthday of the legendary General and former President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the IBB Dialogue Series is being instituted by the Ibrahim and Mariam Babangida Presidential Library & Museum to capture snippets of his visionary leadership style, policies and some of his legacies which was part of the major celebration.
His contribution to the country is enormous, setting up many government agencies, many of which are enduring till today. It was to his credit that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was birthed. Realising that the police were overstretched and, perhaps, distracted from the core duty of fighting crime, he took from them the responsibility of road safety and created the FRSC. The performance of the agency has shown that he was wise in doing this. It was Babangida who established the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to fight the trade in illicit drugs and narcotics. He established the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs and cosmetics. It was to his credit that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was founded to arrest the rise in unemployment through empowerment and training for skill acquisition. The list is endless.
Once, he created Akwa Ibom and the Katsina States in 1987 and declared that they would be the last. However, when a fresh agitation started, even when it looked like defiance by the agitators, he said, since Nigerians wanted the matter revisited, there was a need to create more states. And he did. The states that would be celebrating their 30th anniversary on August 27, 2021, are beneficiaries of this benevolence. They include Abia, Adamawa, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Jigawa, Kogi, Osun, Taraba and Yobe.
The army general is not only fulfilled career-wise, he was said to have been fulfilled in life and marriage wise. His major 80th birthday interview with Arise TV flooded the media a few days back and he attested to the fact that he has a beautiful family
Babangida and his late wife, Maryam tied the nuptials on September 6, 1969, shortly before her 21st birthday, while he, Babangida, had just turned 28. They were blessed with four children. Until her death in 2009, Maryam was renowned for her fashion and penchant for women development.
She would be remembered for creating the office of the First Lady of Nigeria which she used to champion her causes for women including 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 programs. Following the launch of the programme, other wives of military governors were tasked to understand the plight of rural women in their specific states and create projects that will benefit rural women and linking such projects to the appropriate state ministry. By the time her husband resigned from the military leadership in 1993, the programme was terminated.
As his 80th birthday approaches, Babangida feels good, thanking God for the gift of life. He would love to think that he made a contribution that made society better. “Now, having left the office for the last 28 years, I don’t think that… Come to think of it, I think we were right here. A lot of things are happening and those things convinced me that after all, we didn’t do badly. Maybe those things were not understood. So, I think I made a contribution to society in order to make the society better,” he concluded.
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, born in Minna on August 17, 1941, also known as IBB, was an Army officer and military ruler of Nigeria. He ruled Nigeria from August 27, 1985, until his departure from office on August 27, 1993, after his annulment of elections held on June 12 that year. He hails from the Gwari ethnic group. He studied at the India Military School in 1964, the Royal Armoured Centre from January 1966 until April 1966, at the Advanced Armoured Officers’ course at Armored school from August 1972 to June 1973, at the Senior Officers’ course, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from January 1977 until July 1977, and the Senior International Defence Management Course, Naval Postgraduate School, U.S in 1980. His marriage to Maryam who later became First Lady of Nigeria produced four children, H.E Aishat, Mohammed, Aminu and Halimat.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
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