- * Angry IBB Wades In, Cautions Children
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) and Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North-Central, in Minna)
Barely four days after the celebrated 80th birthday of Nigeria's former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), the widely reported rift between Babangida's eldest children, Aisha and Mohammed, over who takes charge of affairs in the IBB's household, has continued to generate tension in the family.
What appears to be a long-simmering cold war between Aisha and Mohammed, the two eldest children of Babangida, finally erupted in the open, on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, during the 80th birthday celebration day of their illustrious father, in Minna, Niger State capital.
The bone of contention, according to reports on the alleged smoldering tussle between Babangida's first daughter and eldest child, Aisha, and her immediate sibling brother and heir apparent to the family, Mohammed, allegedly, arose over who, among the two siblings, dictates the trend of events and takes firm charge of the affairs of the family, including taking care of their aging patriarch and former president.
IBB And His Children Aisha(Left), Mohammed (Right) And Aminu (Middle)
NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER Correspondent and Head of the North-Central Bureau, reliably gathered from an inside family source on Saturday morning in Minna, Niger State, that the 80th birthday bash of the former Nigerian leader which took place at the Babangida's hilltop mansion in Minna, provided a veritable platform for the open manifestation of the evident power tussle between the 49-year old Polo playing star and father of five, Mohammed Babangida and his elder sister, 51-year old Aisha Babangida, a former first lady of Zamfara State.
Aisha, in early 2003, got married to Senator Basheer Nalabo Garba, popularly known as Lado, a young cousin of the late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha, in Kano state, but the marriage crashed within three years. Allegations of wife battering allegedly on the part of the former Kano senatorial district lawmaker, Basheer Garba, and accusations of arrogance, intolerance, and domestic apathy, allegedly against Aisha, however, were rumored to have ruined the young marriage.
Not long after, Aisha gave marriage another shot. She married a much older Alhaji Aliyu Shinkafi, a former governor of Zamfara State, at the time of the marriage, as a third wife. Despite the tremendous love Shinkafi had for Aisha, she lost interest in the union as a result of the alleged intense hostility of her two senior co-wives. However, several extraneous factors, coupled with the failure of Shinkafi to return to power for a second term, forced Aisha Babangida to return finally to her father's house in Minna, pending when she decides to consider marriage again.
But, according to the NEWSLEADER's dependable family source, the alleged loggerhead between the duo of Aisha and Mohammed Babangida over whose directive on the family affairs should prevail in the former president's household, has been a prime source of internal war of nerves between the siblings. This development is said to be currently causing tension and partial division among Babangida's children for quite a while.
NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER also gathered at the weekend, that the existing supremacy tussle started shortly after the demise of their late mother and Nigeria's former First Lady, Hajia (Mrs) Maryam Babangida, on December 27, 2009.
General Babangida, His Late Wife Mariam And His Children
Mrs. Babangida reportedly died from complications of ovarian cancer in a German Hospital and was buried, according to Islamic rites, on December 29, 2009. Maryam, during her lifetime, was something of a matriarchal Tarzan. She was effectively in charge of the running of the internal domestic affairs of the Babangida family, a fact her husband, General Ibrahim Babangida, has severally acknowledged in most of his media interviews.
However, since the media publication of the family sibling's rift on Wednesday, more tension has allegedly engulfed the family, and this, NEWS-LEADER learned, is said to be giving General Babangida himself and some well-meaning family members and close friends of the former Nigerian leader, a lot of concern.
But like a skillful armored military General that Babangida was, this news medium was told on Friday night, that the elder statesman (IBB) is already on top of the matter, in other not to give room for the prevailing situation between his adult children to degenerate out of hand, especially in his lifetime.
The source revealed to NEWS-LEADER thus: "The story about the conflict is really causing so much heat in the house oo! Oga (IBB) is not happy at all. He didn't know that his two eldest children are having this kind of issue between them, at least, not to the extent of the thing coming out in the public. It was very embarrassing to a public man of his stature, especially considering the fact that he is a man who is well respected and loved by most Nigerians, and also taking into account that he and his late wife, Maryam, brought up those children relatively well.
"The children, all these years, were brought up to bond together, and they don't ever get involved in unnecessary scandals like some other kids from such privileged homes do. They were not fighting over what they will eat because there is enough for all of them already. What is happening there is just a small fight over who should be calling the shots in the family on their father's behalf, since the man is gradually getting older. I think it is a usual occurrence, a normal misunderstanding in human relationships", the source rationalized.
This family source also disclosed to our newspaper, that General Babangida, following this worrisome development in his family, has swiftly moved into reign in on Aisha and her brother, Mohammed, to keep the peace. Babangida was also said to have impressed it very strongly on the duo, especially, that he would not accept reports of such bickering or cold war any longer, where it exists. He was also said to have commenced a quick smoothening of things up among his alleged disputing children.
NEWS-LEADER checks on Friday evening however revealed that while some outsiders who are not disposed to the family and who read the reports were quite elated about the current scenario in IBB's house which has become public knowledge, it is being wondered how this guarded misunderstanding crept into the ears of outsiders, in the first place?
What seemed to have apparently worsened the situation that culminated in the story going public, was the alleged denial of access to journalists, some eminent friends, family members, and close associates of IBB to his Minna hilltop mansion, the venue of the Babangida's 80th birthday celebration. This denial of access to invited dignitaries, associates, and Journalists, was allegedly on the strict orders of Babangida's eldest daughter, Aisha.
This directive reportedly ran counter to the wishes and directive of Babangida's eldest son, Mohammed, who, despite the need for COVID-19 precautions, is known to always maintain an open-door policy towards his father's friends, well-wishers, associates of the family, and journalists alike. This approach, from all indications, we learned, makes Mohammed well-loved and far better accepted by the low and mighty, including journalists who are disposed to IBB.
One of the close family persons said to have been refused entry to the house, NEWS-LEADER Correspondent found out in Minna on the day of IBB's 80th birthday celebration, was a cousin to Alhaji Kere Ahmed, a renowned close family associate of IBB. There were also some other eminent close friends of the ex-military leader most of who came from outside Minna for the occasion but who were curiously denied access, apart from newsman. This was said to have rankled Babangida so much, that he allegedly cautioned about such mistakes in the future. The General, we were reliably informed, has moved to deliberately pacify and mend fences with those aggrieved guests and friends.
Babangida traditionally hosts journalists, particularly the NUJ Correspondents Chapel in Minna every year, on August 17, during his birthdays, until lately. But this tradition allegedly seems to be waning, due to what is reported to be a supremacy row between his older children, Aisha and Mohammed Babangida, who are reported to be at loggerheads over who dictates what obtains in affairs of the family.
While the eldest, Aisha, who seemed to have finally relocated to her father's house owing to her marriage issues alleged gave a directive to the domestic security officials on who among the guests to be turned back or allowed into the IBB's hilltop residence, Mohammed had his own list of friends who he allegedly feels should be welcomed into the mansion. This, our correspondent learned, has been a serious bone of contention in the family since the death of their mother, Maryam.
It is no longer a secret that there is no love lost between the two eldest children of the former President, Aisha, and Mohammed, as Aisha is said to be in the habit of personally vetting, with a fine-tooth comb, every list of persons who will see or not see their father, even when IBB's eldest son, Mohammed and the family's heir, apparently feels otherwise.
“IBB used to be nice to journalists and people generally when he was much stronger and treats visitors well, but recent events at the former Military President’s house are indications that domestic workers and visitors including journalists are now being treated with disdain. They are no longer welcome”, an angry and disillusioned journalist lamented in Minna.
All efforts by Journalists to access Babangida's hilltop home on Tuesday, being the day of his birthday occasion, were rudely rebuffed allegedly on the directive by Babangida's eldest daughter, Aisha. Stern-looking security men at the gate, according to NEWS-LEADER Correspondent, did not allow guests and Journalists to even get close to the main gate. On their approach to the gate, the security men signal them to ‘go back! Not only that, several layers of barricades were deliberately erected against visitors to the Babangida's magnificent mansion at the Minna hilltop.
An order, NEWS-LEADER reliably learned, was specifically handed down to the security officials at the outpost. An inscription was also boldly written that “No journalists, no Cameras allow here”. This was believed to be connected with the power tussle between the two siblings, Aisha and Mohammed Babangida. Many visitors, including people from outside the state who were turned back, however, expressed disappointment and total sadness over the new turn of events in Babangida's house.
As at this weekend, neither Mohammed nor Aisha Babangida was ready to speak further about the reported internal raging cold war between them. All entreaties through phone calls and messages to Mohammed in particular, by NEWS-LEADER, were not responded to.
Meanwhile, as the rift between the duo of Aisha and Mohammed Babangida progressively deepened, their younger sibling brother and sister, Aminu (second son) and Halima (second daughter and the baby of the house), tactically elected to be somewhat indifferent, perhaps, so as not to be caught in the crossfire of the dispute between their older siblings. They appeared to be minding their business, preferring not to be involved in what looked like an ongoing domestic politics or power play.
The 46-year old Aminu Babangida is known to be a shrewd and hardworking businessman like his elder brother, Mohammed. Aminu is also in charge of some of the family businesses like the oil and gas arm and the banking sector interests. He was a board chairman of Unity Bank Plc. Dark-skinned Aminu who is known to be a male physical replica of their deceased mother, Maryam Babangida, operates mostly between her late mother's home state, Delta and Minna, Abuja, and Lagos.
NEWS-LEADER gathered that Aminu presides over chains of top-of-the-line oil filling stations belonging to the Babangida's, which are mostly located in Asaba, Delta state, and also in Minna, Niger state, including other choice axes of the country. Aminu is said to be so busy that he had no time for internal family bickering. The same thing applies to the family's last child, 32-year old Halima, who got married in May 2017 to Alhaji Auwal Abdullahi, a prominent Gombe State influential traditional ruler.
Halima And Her Husband Auwal Abdullahi
Halima is indeed a very rich young lady who has local and international business interests. A major source of the young lady's affluence came from her childhood life investments in bluechip concerns. NEWS-LEADER reliably gleaned that at the time of her birth when her father was in power, then baby Halima received stupendous monetary and sundry gifts, even gold presents, from numerous wealthy and aristocratic friends and associates of Babangida and his family.
These tangible gift items, particularly cash and gold, were wisely invested for her by her presidential parents, pending her maturity to the adult age of controlling her own investments. Among the IBB's kids, therefore, Halima is probably, as they say, the "Richest" Girl in "Babylon".
NEWS-LEADER however learned that Halima always frequents her father's house in Minna, despite being married in far away Gombe state. Recently, she built a posh house in her father's hilltop compound where she stays anytime she's visiting. She, like her big sister, Aisha, is very close to her father. In fact, Halima, as the last child of the family who was born in 1989, at Dodan Barracks, in Lagos, at the height of her father's imperial power as Nigeria's military president, is expected, IBB's adorable favorite.
Besides, Halima is significant to IBB's historical background. First, Halima is the name of General Babangida's paternal grandmother, who, in the pre-colonial times, was a very beautiful young Hausa girl from a small, rural area in Nupe town called Wushishi, in the present-day Niger state, which is today, also, a cosmopolitan town. This Halima met and fell in love and later married one Mallam Ibrahim, a young, enterprising but adventurous koranic teacher who migrated with his parents from Sokoto to Kano state, in those early years when itinerancy was a fad.
Mallam Ibrahim was General Babangida's grandfather who left Kano, in the course of his adventure and quest for a rewarding pastoral life, to settle, by the circumstance of love, in Wushishi. He was an Islamic scholar, an ancient koranic intellectual, popularly nicknamed then in Wushishi as 'Mallam na Rimi', because he built his abode near a tall tree called 'Rimi', in Wushishi village.
Another significance of that name, Halima, in IBB's life, is that his late eldest sister by his mother, Aishatu (she was the first among the three wives of IBB's father), was named Halimatu. She later died. Halimatu was the very first child and first daughter (what the Igbos call Ada Nne) of General Babangida's father named Mallam Muhammadu Badamasi, who, then, in the mid-30s and 40s, was an Administrative messenger in the Colonial District Office, in Minna. IBB's father however died from jaundice ailment at the age of 45, after retiring in 1948, as a colonial messenger. It was probably in memorial of his paternal grandmother, Halima, and his deceased elder sister, Halimatu, that the former president (also known in his childhood as Ibrahim Muhammadu Maigari) also named his last daughter Halima.
Little Halima At Dodan Barracks Lagos With Both Her Parents IBB and Mariam With The Former Military Vice President, Late Admiral Augustus Aikhomu
Babangida is also said to have a very soft spot for Aisha, his eldest daughter, who, probably out of nostalgic love and affection for his beloved mother (Innawuro Aishatu Babangida) who died while he was too young in the 1940s, was named after. Just Like Aisha, IBB equally loves his first Son, Mohammed. But NEWS-LEADER also learned from a dependable family source, that both IBB's sons, Mohammed and Aminu, were the apple of the eyes of their late matriarch, Maryam Babangida. She was said to have a tremendous affection for Aminu who is her great look-alike, but who has an incredible natural independent affectation.
Aisha Babangida, among other family business concerns which she manages, has totally assumed her late mothers' pet project while she was Nigeria's First Lady in the mid-80s and early 90s. This popular project, BETTER LIFE FOR RURAL WOMEN, made strong waves among the urban privileged and rural women in Nigeria at the time. Maryam was helped to actualize and ensure the success of this project by a crop of select female intellectuals and professionals like Professor Bolanle Awe, Dr. Eyantu Ifenne, Hajia Laila Dogonyaro, Professor Grace Alele Williams, Mrs. Emily Aig-Imhoukhede, Mrs. Hilda Adefarasin, Chief (Mrs) Ayoka Bola Kuforiji-Olubi, among many other renowned women eggheads of that era.
With her commendable exploits in Better Life for Rural Women activism, Maryam Babangida, jointly won, in 1992, a Green Belt International Award with the famous late Kenyan Environmentalist, a Biological and Veterinary Scientist and female Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Prof. Wangari Maathai. Today, Aisha Babangida has transformed her mother's project to the next level of what she called Better Life for Africa Women (BLAF). In her present capacity in her father's family as a surrogate mother, Aisha Babangida is allegedly bringing to bear, that maternal touch, in taking adequate care of her aging father in the absence of their dutiful and alleged "disciplinarian" mother, Hajia Maryam.
IBB's Children : Aisha, Mohammed And Aminu
The crown prince of the Babangida family, Mohammed, is said to be an affable and a people person and a gentleman to the core, just like his father, IBB, however, controls the family's business interests in education, security, among others. Mohammed currently presides over the family's academic primary and secondary institution known as El-Amin Group of Schools, located both in their home state, Minna, Niger state, and in Maitama, Abuja.
Mohammed is also in charge of the corporate security firm belonging to the family known as Profile Security Limited. This is aside from the representation he offers on the board of a Minna-based highly rated FM radio station known as Prestige FM, which the IBB family is said to have a substantial equity interest in, among other businesses.
However, General Ibrahim Babangida's milestone 80th birthday on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, as usual, was well modestly celebrated, just like when he clocked 60 and 70 years in 2001 and 2011. When retired Nigeria's military ruler celebrated his 50th birthday in Lagos, on August 17, 1991, while he was in power as President, his powerful and influential friends than like the late Bashorun MKO Abiola and his dreaded military government, turned the occasion into a carnival celebration.
Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida with his wife, Abuja, Nigeria, 1987. (Photo by Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty Images)
Among the prominent Nigerians who graced Babangida's 80-year birthday in Minna on Tuesday, included, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau, former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, former Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu; former governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential Candidate of the PDP in the 2019 general election, Mr. Peter Obi; FCT lawmaker, Senator Philip Aduda; former Anambra Central Senator, Ojeluigbo Ben Obi and Senator Sani Musa.
Others are the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwwal of Sokoto state and the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; other national officers of the PDP, and above all, Babangida's close military ally and former spook, General Halilu Akilu, a former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) in the IBB junta.
Recall that General Akilu was accused along with General Kunle Togun, a former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS, now DSS), for allegedly masterminding the gruesome assassination, through a letter bomb, on Sunday morning on October 19, 1986, of a frontline Journalist and pioneer Editor-in-Chief of defunct Newswatch Magazine, Mr Dele Giwa. NNL.
