Former First Lady Of Nigeria, Her Excellency Maryam Babangida Passes On To Eternal Glory

Asaba National Association USA, Inc wishes to send a heartfelt condolence to the family of His Excellency, General Ibrahim Babangida and the Okogwu family for the passing of our dearly beloved sister, Her Excellency Maryam Babangida.

Mrs Babangida fought a long and courageous battle with ovarian cancer before being snatched by the cold hands of death on December 27th 2009 at the UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in the US. She was interred in Minna, Niger State on December 30th near the IBB mosque in Niger State capital.
 
Her Excellency was born on November 1948. She had a fairly humble beginnings in her hometown of Asaba. She is blessed with four children, 2 boys, Mohammed and Aminu and 2 girls, Aisha and Halima.
 
She is considered to be one of the greatest women in Africa today. She had a staunch belief that the  family unit is the most crucial factor in the quality of a society and that the woman is the central anchor of the unit.
 
In 1983, she became the president of the Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA). It was during her 20 month presidency that her leadership qualities were first unfolded to the public as she galvanized and mobilized her colleagues to take on public spirited projects which included building schools, clinics, women's multi-purpose center and children's day care center. During her short tenure as president, she completely transformed and revolutionized the image of the association from that of redundancy to an action oriented body thus attracting more members.
 
By the time she became First Lady, she was able to utilize this same skill to do more for the country. She was chairperson of the Better Life For Rural Women during her husband's presidency.
 
She transformed the institution of the First Ladyship to that of active participation in Nation building. She was a champion of women causes. She is a down to earth mother, a woman of caliber and substance, a devout muslim who lived all her life in service of humanity. Her death is a monumental loss not only to the Asaba people or to Nigeria as a whole but also to the whole of the continent of Africa.
 
Though the cold hands of death has snatched our former first lady away from us, but her legacy will continue to live on. What you did for the Asaba people and Delta State as a whole will always be held dear to our hearts. We will never forget your kindness. When the final history of Delta State is written, Her Excellency's name will be written in gold.
 
On behalf of the entire members of the Asaba National Association USA, Inc., we wish to say Adieu and
May you rest in perfect peace in the Lord's bosom.
 
ANA loves you, the Asaba people love you and most especially, God loves you. Bye for now till we meet again in God's Kingdom.
 
Ogbueshi Emmanuel Obi
President, ANA USA, Inc