59 Facts About Ibrahim Babangida

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida was born on 17 August 1941 and is a retired Nigerian army general and politician.

Ibrahim Babangida served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993.

Ibrahim Babangida rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Chief of Army Staff; going on to orchestrate his seizure of power in a coup d'etat against Muhammadu Buhari.

Ibrahim Babangida was born on 17 August 1941 in Minna to his father, Muhammad Babangida and mother Aisha Babangida.

Ibrahim Babangida received early Islamic education before attending primary school from 1950 to 1956.

From 1957 to 1962 Babangida attended Government College Bida, together with classmates Abdulsalami Abubakar, Mamman Vatsa, Mohammed Magoro, Sani Bello, Garba Duba, Gado Nasko and Mohammed Sani Sami.

Ibrahim Babangida joined the Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962, where he attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna.

Ibrahim Babangida attended the Indian Military Academy from April to September 1963.

Ibrahim Babangida was Commanding Officer of 1 Reconnaissance Squadron from 1964 to 1966.

Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida was posted with the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron in Kaduna, and witnessed the events of the bloody coup d'etat of 1966, which resulted in the assassination of Sir Ahmadu Bello.

In 1969, during a reconnaissance operation from Enugu to Umuahia, the battalion came under heavy enemy fire and Ibrahim Babangida was shot on the right side of his chest.

Ibrahim Babangida was then hospitalized in Lagos, and was given the option of removing the bullet shrapnel, which he refused and still carries with him.

Away and recovering from his wounds, Ibrahim Babangida married Maryam King on 6 September 1969.

Ibrahim Babangida returned to the war front in December 1969, commanding a battalion.

In January 1970, Ibrahim Babangida was informed by his sectional commander General Theophilus Danjuma of the capitulation of the Biafran Army to the federal military government in Lagos, signaling the end of the war.

In 1970, following the war Ibrahim Babangida was promoted twice and posted to the Nigerian Defence Academy as an instructor.

Colonel Ibrahim Babangida as Commander of the Armoured Corps was a key participant in the coup d'etat of 1975.

Ibrahim Babangida was later appointed as one of the youngest members of the Supreme Military Council from 1 August 1975 to October 1979.

Colonel Ibrahim Babangida crushed almost single-handedly the coup d'etat of 1976 that resulted in the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed by taking back control of the Radio Nigeria station from the main perpetrator, Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka.

Ibrahim Babangida was the Director of Army Staff Duties and Plans from 1981 to 1983.

Ibrahim Babangida orchestrated the coup d'etat of 1983 which led to the overthrow of the Second Republic, with financial backing from his close associate and businessman Moshood Abiola.

Ibrahim Babangida justified the coup in a speech describing General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime as "too rigid".

Ibrahim Babangida ruling by decree promulgated his official title as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and placed Muhammadu Buhari under house arrest in Benin until 1988.

Ibrahim Babangida established the Armed Forces Ruling Council as the highest law-making council serving as Chairman; he restructured the national security apparatus, tasking General Aliyu Gusau as Co-ordinator of National Security directly reporting to him in the president's office he created the: State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency and Defence Intelligence Agency.

Shortly after coming to power General Ibrahim Babangida established the Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986.

In 1986, Ibrahim Babangida launched the Structural Adjustment Program, with support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to restructure the Nigerian economy.

In 1987, Ibrahim Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery, following a recommendation from the Political Bureau, to increase self reliance and economic recovery.

Ibrahim Babangida finished the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge, the largest bridge on the continent at the time.

Ibrahim Babangida's administration saw the completion of the dualising of the Kaduna-Kano highway.

Ibrahim Babangida created the Jibia Water Treatment Plant and the Challawa Cenga Dam in Kano.

Ibrahim Babangida founded the Federal Road Safety Corps in order to better manage the national roads.

On 23 September 1987, Ibrahim Babangida created two states: Akwa Ibom State and Katsina State.

On 27 August 1991, Ibrahim Babangida created nine more states: Abia, Enugu, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Osun, Kogi, Taraba and Yobe.

Ibrahim Babangida increased the share of oil royalties and rents to state of origin from 1.5 to 3 percent.

Ibrahim Babangida rejected apartheid in South Africa, involved Nigerian troops in the Liberian Civil War, hosted the Abuja Treaty which gave rise to the African Union and enhanced relations with the United States and United Kingdom.

In 1989, Ibrahim Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic.

Ibrahim Babangida legalized the formation of political parties, and formed the two-party system with the Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention ahead of the 1992 general elections.

Ibrahim Babangida appointed Ernest Shonekan Head of the Transitional Council and de jure Head of Government.

The elections were later annulled by military head of state General Ibrahim Babangida, citing electoral irregularities.

The annulment led to widespread protests and political unrest in Abiola's stronghold of the South West, as many felt Ibrahim Babangida had ulterior motives, and did not want to cede power to Moshood Abiola, a Yoruba businessman.

Ibrahim Babangida later admitted that the elections were annulled due to national security considerations, which he didn't specify.

Ibrahim Babangida signed a decree establishing the Interim National Government led by Ernest Shonekan.

From his hilltop residence in Minna, Ibrahim Babangida has cultivated a patronage system which cuts across the entire country.

In 1998, Ibrahim Babangida was instrumental in the transition to democracy.

Ibrahim Babangida is one of the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party alongside other prominent military generals such as Aliyu Mohammed Gusau.

Ibrahim Babangida said he was doing so "under the banner of the Nigerian people" and accused the country's political elite of fuelling Nigeria's current ethnic and religious violence.

On 8 November 2006, General Ibrahim Babangida picked up a nomination form from the Peoples Democratic Party headquarters in Abuja.

Ibrahim Babangida's form was personally issued to him by the PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali.

In September 2010, Ibrahim Babangida officially declared his intention to run for the presidency in the 2011 presidential election in Abuja, Nigeria.

Ibrahim Babangida was later urged by his military inner circle to withdraw his candidacy.

In 2015, following the election of his long-time rival General Muhammadu Buhari as President, Ibrahim Babangida has maintained a low profile.

Ibrahim Babangida is considered a foremost elder statesman, and has called for a generational shift in leadership to allow for a new crop of leaders to replace the 1966 military class.

Ibrahim Babangida was married to Maryam Ibrahim Babangida from 1969 until her death in 2009.

On 27 December 2009, Maryam Ibrahim Babangida died from complications of ovarian cancer.

Ibrahim Babangida is believed to secretly possess a multi-billion dollar fortune via successive ownership of stakes in a number of Nigerian companies.

In 2011, according to a Forbes article, Ibrahim Babangida is estimated to be worth US$12 billion.

Ibrahim Babangida has rejected these claims, and insists his government "were saints".

Ibrahim Babangida rose through the ranks of the Nigerian Army fighting in the Nigerian Civil War and at various times being involved in all the military coups in Nigeria, before advancing to the full-rank of a General and ultimately as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces; and as an unelected President and military strongman from 1985 to 1993, ruling for an uninterrupted period of eight years.

The Ibrahim Babangida government oversaw the establishment of a state security apparatus; survived two coup d'etat attempts and the subsequent execution of Mamman Vatsa and Gideon Orkar alongside the trial of hundreds of soldiers; assassination in Lagos of Dele Giwa.