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Ibrahim Babangida has recalled a funny moment when his late wife, Maryam, found a letter from another woman at their home.
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In a clip from an old interview going viral, Babangida said his new orderly mistakenly brought the letter home and left it on the dining table.
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He apologised to Maryam after she read the letter, but she simply smiled and called him a “crook”.
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Babangida said Maryam understood his lifestyle and was willing to forgive him when he admitted he was wrong.
August 20, (THEWILL) — Former military president Ibrahim Babangida has shared a light-hearted story about his late wife, Maryam Babangida, recalling how she once found a letter from another woman at their home.
The footage is from an episode of NTA’s Executive Discourse featuring Babangida, which originally aired in August 2022. In the interview, he reflected on his marriage to Maryam and some of the experiences they shared during their years together.
Babangida said the incident happened after his orderly brought a letter from his office and left it on the dining table. The letter was from a woman, and Maryam found and read it before he returned home.
“One day my orderly innocently brought a letter from my office. That letter came from a girl. She opened the letter and read it,” Babangida recalled.
When he returned from the office, he saw the letter and immediately realised that it should not have been brought home.
“I said, look, I am sorry, this letter should not have been here in the first place. The boy I had is a new one, the old one knew the letters to bring home. I didn’t teach him well,” he said.
Rather than turning the situation into a serious argument, Babangida said Maryam simply smiled and called him a “crook”.
“I said it wouldn’t happen again. And that I would tell the boy not to bring wrong letters home, he can bring mine and hers home,” he recalled.
Babangida said the incident reflected Maryam’s understanding of his personality and the demands of his public life. He described her as a woman who understood him and was willing to resolve disagreements without allowing them to affect their relationship.
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“It took a woman who understands my way of life to even forgive me. So, when I’m wrong, I always admit it,” he said.
He also recalled that Maryam often believed her mother had spoiled him because he was used to getting his way.
“She believes that my mother-in-law spoiled me, that I’m always right,” he said.
Babangida and Maryam married on September 6, 1969, and had four children: Aisha, Muhammad, Aminu and Halima.
In his 2025 autobiography, “A Journey in Service”, Babangida described Maryam as an important part of his life and recalled promising her that he would not take multiple wives.
Maryam served as Nigeria’s First Lady from 1985 to 1993 and was known for her work through the Better Life Programme for Rural Women, which focused on improving the welfare and economic opportunities of women in rural communities.
She died on December 27, 2009, in Los Angeles at the age of 61 after battling ovarian cancer. Babangida was by her side at the time of her death.
Evi-Ben Ezaga is an entertainment and society writer with a passion for stories that explore culture, people, and the stories shaping society today.
