Shakespeare, the famous English poet, once said that when a beggar dies, there are no comets seen, but the Heaven blazes forth on the death of a princess.
Today marks four years since this quintessential former Nigeria’s First Lady, Dr. Mrs. Maryam Babangida died. I am constrained to condense this tribute because the details of the life of this absolutely stunning woman cannot be complete in a single article.
But it is significant to recall some of the outstanding things and the circumstances that defined this elegant, and intelligent woman as First Lady during the era when her husband, General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, reigned as Nigeria’s military president (1985 to 1993; Eight-Years).
Maryam, born in 1948, emerged from a relatively humble background to bestride the political landscape of Nigeria in a fashion unprecedented in the history of the First Ladyship in the country and left a matchless milestone and profound integrity to that office.
The first steps she took when she assumed office completely changed the character and purpose of the office. Her organizational ability; deep understanding of issues; and creative capacity brought a touch of magic to chart a cause of emancipation for the rural poor.
Once described as “bewitchingly beautiful” by one of Nigeria’s leading journalists, Maryam Babangida introduced a wide range of programmes in pursuit of her heart desires to reach out to the neglected poor in the isolated areas of the country.
Through her Better Life for Rural Women (BLRW) programme, she laid a foundation for what has become today part of MDG’s; she gave her heart and soul to the projects and continued to woo development partners to expand the horizon of rural poor by bringing the light of education to them. Her priorities in the BLRW encompassed issues of health, agriculture improvement and skill acquisition which, during her time, helped to curb the rural-urban drift in the country.
She instantly became a rallying point for the womenfolk because many women and especially the rural poor, who never had such bountiful opportunities in the past, saw her as a source of hope and a symbol of emancipation in a men dominated polity.
Despite sitting on the crest of political power in Nigeria, Maryam Babangida remained modest in her approach and opened to constructive criticisms which endeared her to the Nigerian public.
Her programme also won her several International awards; yet she never relented as she made more arduous efforts to remove more people from the shackles of poverty in Nigeria.
Throughout her eight years as First Lady she was a dedicated mother, nurturing her children with the appropriate family values. Now this particular bit of her life was instructive because there was never a story of scandal in her family, just like she entrenched those values in families across the nation at a time the nation needed proper moral orientation.
She was circumspect while confronting difficult situations which strengthened her work ethics in every quality required for imagination and initiative, and in clarity of thought.
The ideas she espoused with her life within office were like values built on granite many of which multiplied her dignity and prestige among even those who are/were envious of her style.
Maryam was also a symbol of unity in a country often rocked by crises emanating from ethnic and religious differences; she possessed a stylish-character that earned her a private-personal-entrance into the hearts and minds of many.
Her programmes were not only calculated to alleviate the burden of the poor but to also promote social justice which was a good step to secure the future: they were compact and effective.
During her time, Nigeria witnessed perhaps the finest moments in the annals of the First Lady’s position. The splendor and candor she introduced into the office were inimitable. Her sense of fashion was, without equivocation, unrivalled; and her attachment to national issues was woven around mentorship anchored on discipline, and intellection.
When she left office, most of her successors have struggled to keep up her pace; and even imitated some of her projects. The big vacuum Maryam left in that office remains very difficult to fill, not because her successors were less gifted but because they may have lacked the originality and the focused-imaginative- construction which she brought to bear in her time. The momentum she established in office has suddenly waned and is about vanishing. Today the office of First Lady has been turned into an arm of the ruling party as the occupants of the office dwell more on using the office to acquire choice properties in Abuja and other places, or twisted to become an instrument to intimidate and browbeat other people or even to hunt perceived opponents.
No wonder critics have called for the scrapping of the office now as it represents nothing but sheer recklessness, extravagance and absolutely out of tune with modern governance.
As we remember the late Maryam Babangida, let us look in retrospect at the fundamental values and disciplined-manners she espoused, and get them to become the anchor of national aspiration; and perhaps, by act of Almighty God, restore to the office, the legacy she bequeathed.
As Elton John sang, ‘Candle in the wind’, Dr. Mrs. Maryam Babangida, came to us as that candle of illumination; that candle that gave strength to women of Nigeria; that single-candle that stood so beautiful in a dark tunnel to enable those that passed through to see the light; that candle whose time to blow out came, and it did, because we are all standing in the wind.
To my senior friend, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR, Mni (rtd.), and his family, we stand with you as you remember your best friend, partner, mother, and grand-mother. May her soul rest in peace.
Gbanite wrote from Abuja.
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