Maryam Babangida: Before she became Nigeria’s First Lady and one of the country’s most recognisable women, Maryam Babangida was known as Maria Ndidi Okogwu, a young woman from Asaba whose life took a decisive turn when she met Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, then a young army officer.
In his 2025 autobiography, A Journey in Service, Babangida provided a personal account of their courtship, Maria’s initial doubts about his suitability for marriage, her conversion to Islam and their wedding in Kaduna.
Babangida wrote that, while recovering from a chest injury at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, he began thinking seriously about marriage. He eventually decided that Maria was the woman with whom he wanted to spend his life.
After leaving the hospital, he travelled to Kaduna, where Maria was living with her mother and uncle, to make his intentions known.
Maria, however, was initially sceptical.
She knew that Babangida had acquired a reputation as a young “man about town” and was uncertain whether he was prepared for the responsibilities of marriage. Babangida remained determined to convince her of his seriousness.
According to his account, Muhammadu King, the father of his close friend Garba Duba, supported him during the courtship and helped him win Maria’s confidence.
Eventually, Maria agreed to marry him—but religion was an important part of their discussions.
Babangida explained that Islam was central to his life and that he wanted his future wife to embrace the faith. Maria’s family background made the decision less unfamiliar because, according to Babangida, she had been exposed to both Christianity and Islam and was already living in a Muslim household.
She accepted Islam and adopted the name Maryam before their wedding.
This detail is important because some reports particularly a misleading newspaper headline suggested that she converted after the marriage. However, Babangida’s autobiography states clearly that Maria had already become Maryam and converted to Islam by the time they married.
The couple were married at the Marriage Registry in Kaduna on 6 September 1969. Because Maryam had already converted to Islam, the registry ceremony was followed by Islamic marital rites.
Babangida was 28 years old, while Maryam, who was born on 1 November 1948, was a few weeks away from her 21st birthday.
Babangida also made another significant promise during their courtship. Although Islam permits a man to marry more than one wife, he assured Maryam that he did not intend to practise polygamy.
He explained that he had witnessed the conflicts and emotional difficulties associated with polygamous households, both among his professional colleagues and within his extended family. He believed that avoiding polygamy would give him a better chance of building a stable family with one lifelong partner.
Their marriage lasted for more than 40 years and produced four children: Aisha, Muhammad, Aminu and Halima.
Maryam later became much more than the wife of a military officer. Following Babangida’s emergence as Nigeria’s military president in 1985, she transformed the public role of the First Lady and became closely associated with initiatives supporting women and children.
Her most prominent initiative was the Better Life Programme for Rural Women, established in 1987. The programme promoted women’s education, economic empowerment, cooperatives, cottage industries, agriculture and community development.
Behind the celebrated public figure, however, remained the woman Babangida first knew as Maria.
In his autobiography, he described Maryam as a pillar of his personal and professional life. He reflected on her early doubts about him, his determination to prove that he was ready for marriage and the companionship they shared throughout his military and political career.
Maryam Babangida died in the United States on 27 December 2009 from complications associated with ovarian cancer. She was 61 years old.
Her journey from Maria Ndidi Okogwu to Maryam Babangida formed part of a much larger story—the story of two young people who met before either could have imagined how dramatically their lives would unfold.
Maria became Maryam before their wedding. She subsequently became a wife, mother, women’s advocate and Nigeria’s First Lady, while Babangida’s military career took him to the highest level of political power.
Decades later, in A Journey in Service, Babangida returned to those early years and remembered the young woman who initially questioned whether he was ready for marriage but ultimately became his lifelong companion.
Photograph caption.
Major Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and his young wife, Maryam, in 1969. According to Babangida’s autobiography, they married at the Kaduna Marriage Registry on 6 September 1969 after Maria had converted to Islam and adopted the name Maryam. Islamic marital rites followed the registry ceremony.
Photograph credited to Clara Dike Wall. The original archival provenance and date of the image have not been independently verified.
Sources
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, A Journey in Service: An Autobiography, Bookcraft, 2025.
Punch, “How my late wife, Maryam, converted to Islam after our marriage – Babangida.” The headline conflicts with the chronology presented in both the report and the autobiography.
The Guardian Nigeria, “Maryam was my pillar — Babangida.”
TheCable Lifestyle, “IBB: How I met my wife Maryam, converted her to Islam.”
Further reported by Olusola Agbalu
Anchor- Politics And You.
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