- Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida revealed in his autobiography, A Journey in Service, that his colleagues at Provincial Secondary School, Bida, gave him the nickname "Kulele" due to his stocky physique
- Babangida shared humorous anecdotes about his school days and the camaraderie with his friends, known as the Group of 5
- He fondly remembered how the school's environment and teachers transformed his life and boosted his self-confidence
Niger state, Nigeria - Former Military President Ibrahim Babangida has shared a nickname given to him in his secondary school days in his autobiography, A Journey in Service.
In the book, Babangida, commonly referred to as IBB, revealed that his colleagues at Provincial Secondary School, Bida, had given him the nickname "Kulele."
He explained the reason behind this nickname and how it came to be.
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Story behind IBB's nickname
Ibrahim Babangida recounted his experiences at Provincial Secondary School, where he arrived as a shy 16-year-old with registration number 211.
He described how the school transformed his life and those of his classmates, crediting the predominantly expatriate and Nigerian teaching staff for instilling confidence in them.
Babangida formed close friendships with a group of classmates, known as the Group of 5, and earned the nickname "Blockbuster" for his sporting skills as captain of the cricket team and a vital football team member.
However, it was his stocky physique that led his friends Gado Nasko and Ismaila Ahmed to coin the nickname "Kulele." Babangida humorously noted, "I never forgave them!" He acknowledged the nickname in good spirits, highlighting the camaraderie and memorable moments of his school days.
In the book, he wrote:
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“Provincial Secondary School transformed my life and those of my classmates. When I arrived on my first day at Bida as Ibrahim Badamasi, as I said earlier, with registration number 211, I was a shy 16-year-old. Except for the short journey as part of my primary school delegation from Minna to Kaduna in 1956 to welcome Queen Elizabeth II, the trip to Bida was my first from home. Yet, when I left Bida five years later, I was a young man who felt confident enough to know what he thought he wanted for himself.
“That sense of self-confidence derived partly from the effort of the best school teachers that Nigerian kids of our age could have anywhere in the country at that time. Most of the predominantly expatriate teaching staff were young Englishmen from English public schools who had presumably joined the British Overseas Colonial Service in search of new adventures. But others, and perhaps the most impactful of them, were our Nigerian teachers, who, by their examples, taught us to dare.
“We became so daring as to take ourselves seriously enough to form special groups! For instance, five of us, Buba Ahmed, Ismaila, Ahmed, Mohammed Magoro, Abdulsalami, and I, were referred to as the Group of 5, not only because we were friends who hung out together, studied and broke bounds and school rules together, but also because we were considered great athletes. I even earned myself a nickname, Blockbuster, for my sporting skills since I was Captain of the Cricket team and a vital football team member. Indeed, it’s fair to admit (even if I say so myself!) that I was a versatile sportsman who participated in hockey, football, cricket, athletics, and tennis. And I believe it was Gado Nasko and Ismaili Ahmed who impudently coined another nickname for me, Kulele, which, in their view, described my stocky physique! I never forgave them!!”
How IBB met, married his wife
Legit.ng earlier reported that Ibrahim Babangida shared details about how he met and married his late wife, Maryam, in his recently released autobiography, A Journey in Service.
IBB married Maryam, initially named Maria, on 6 September 1969, and they had four children: Aisha, Muhammad, Aminu, and Halima.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
