- Former military president Ibrahim Babangida explained why he added Babangida to his name in his autobiography, A Journey in Service
- The decision arose from frequent inquiries from colleagues who often confused his last name, leading him to clarify his heritage
- The former military president humorously noted that despite the name change, he remained his father's son
Niger, Nigeria - Former military president Ibrahim Babangida has shared the reason behind adding Babangida to his name in his newly released autobiography, A Journey in Service.
Babangida revealed that the decision was made due to frequent inquiries from his colleagues who often confused his name.
Journey and name change incident
In the book, Babangida recounted his return to Nigeria from India in January 1964 as 2nd Lt Ibrahim Badamasi, with personal Army number N/438.
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He was promptly deployed to the reconnaissance squadron (the ‘Turaki’ Squadron) First Brigade, Kaduna. Although the overall Commander of the First Brigade was Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun, young officers rarely had contact with him.
Babangida had Major Chris Anufuro, Major Hassan Katsina, and Major Okpo Isong as his immediate commanders, who were very kind to him.
However, before settling down to work at the First Brigade, an incident led him to add ‘Babangida’ to his name.
Babangida explained, “During official engagements that led to my deployment to Kaduna, officers who confused the Yoruba name, ‘Gbadamosi,’ with my last name, ‘Badamasi,’ repeatedly asked me whether I was Yoruba. That question had also come up a few years before, during my enlisting interview for the military. Since that question persisted (and since I knew I wasn’t Yoruba!), I decided to take on my father’s other name as my last name.”
Babangida humorously noted that he joked about the name change, saying, “Regardless of the name change, I am still my father’s son!”
In his book, the former president wrote:
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“I returned to Nigeria from India in January 1964 as 2nd Lt Ibrahim Badamasi, with personal Army number N/438. I was promptly deployed to the reconnaissance squadron (the ‘Turaki’ Squadron) First Brigade, Kaduna. Although the overall Commander of the First Brigade was Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun, young officers hardly had contact with him. I had Major Chris Anufuro, Major Hassan Katsina, and Major Okpo Isong as my immediate commanders. These senior officers were very kind to me in their different ways.
“However, before I settled down to work at the First Brigade, a particular incident led me to add ‘Babangida’ to my name. During official engagements that led to my deployment to Kaduna, officers who confused the Yoruba name, ‘Gbadamosi,’ with my last name, ‘Badamasi,’ repeatedly asked me whether I was Yoruba. That question had also come up a few years before, during my enlisting interview for the military. Since that question persisted (and since I knew I wasn’t Yoruba!), I decided to take on my father’s other name as my last name. And I remember joking about it then and saying: ‘Regardless of the name change, I am still my father’s son’!”
"How I met my wife": IBB
Legit.ng earlier reported that former Military President Ibrahim Babangida has 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.
