I’m alive, says Maryam Babangida
Cover Stories Nov 16, 2009 By Omoh Gabriel
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/16/im-alive-says-maryam-babangida/

LAGOS — Former First Lady, Mrs Maryam Babangida, yesterday said she is alive and kicking. She spoke to Vanguard on phone allaying the fears that she was dead.

She said; “I do not know that you people in Vanguard love me this much. Only God gives life and takes it. I am alive, well, I am okay. I don’t know where people got the rumour from.”


Former First Lady, Mrs Maryam Babangida
She further said: “I am surprised that some people are wishing me dead, I am still alive, I thank Almighty Allah for His mercies and kindness. I will soon join you at home”.

Her conversation with Vanguard yesterday put to rest the rumour of her death which had spread like wildfire.
She was said to be terminally ill of cancer at the University of California (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.

The rumour mill also said that the former First Lady was undergoing chemotherapy and pain therapy in the intensive care unit of center in the past few days. It was also said that the former military President General Ibrahim Babangida joined his wife a few weeks ago.

Last week, General Babangida and his children were even said to have been summoned to Maryam’s bedside as her condition was said to be deteriorating.

Mohammed, the first son of Maryam, was said to have returned to Nigeria two nights ago to brief members of the extended family about the condition of his mother in Los Angeles.

Maryam Babangida, former First Lady of Nigeria and Chairperson for the Better Life for Rural Woman, remains the toast of Nigerian women even in her advance years. She is one of the most glamorous and most photographed first ladies in Nigeria’s history.

Full of zest, she became a recurring decimal in top-rate state and social functions within and outside Nigeria.
Mrs. Babangida often brought smiles on the faces of many people particularly because of her sense of style and the glitter she brings to every occasion she attends.

Nigeria’s history has it that Mrs. Babangida as wife of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who was the nation’s president between 1985 and 1993 started the office of the first lady and went further to add glamour to it.

Now, what's next?

Alive and kicking? God is good.

I wish the thousands of people her husband killed either directly or otherwise from hunger, could have said the same.