Date Published: 12/27/09

HURIWA mourns Mrs. Maryam Babangida

The demise of the wife of the erstwhile Nigeria’s military dictator Mrs. Maryam Babangida  in a United States of American-based hospital has been described as monumental loss of an iconic figure by a democracy inclined and development focused non-governmental organization-HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, HURIWA, even as it has called on the Federal Government to immortalize the heroine of poor rural women by naming a significant  national institution after her and by working to meet one of the salient Millennium Development Goals  [MDG’s] which is poverty eradication which was a particular passion pursued by the late former First Lady.

In a statement made available to the media, the National Coordinator of HURIWA Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko stated that though it was not in support of the existence and funding of the office of the first lady because it is not backed up by any enabling statute or law, but reminded Nigerians that many people were rightly delighted by the dignifying ways and manners that the late First Lady executed several pro-poor projects targeted at the economic empowerment of many rural poor. The Rights group commended the late former first lady for the successes recorded by her pet project- Better Life for Rural Women.

According to HURIWA; ‘’we are indeed in mourning with all members of the Nigerian human rights community for the unfortunate loss of one of our very silent but active member-Mrs. Maryam Babangida who will go down on record as a woman of distinction who used her privileged position to create the human rights platform to provide soft landing and the much desired economic succour to the hundreds of thousands of poor rural women who were indeed rendered impoverished by the inefficient and anti-poor economic policies of several military and civilian regimes including the military dictatorship led by her husband General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida [rtd] who reeled out several anti-poor economic policies at the behest of the Brettonwoods Institutions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF.’’

HURIWA also commended the late first lady for using her position to create the educational platforms for the educational empowerment of the girl child and for raising the ante on the advocacy against child abuse and sexual molestation of vulnerable girls and children including her vigorous campaign for gender equity and eradication of all forms of discriminatory practices against Nigerian widows. The Rights group challenged members of the Human Rights community to document the monumental achievements of the late Mrs. Maryam Babangida for the benefits of generations yet unborn.

On how to immortalize the memories of the late former first lady, the Rights group tasked the Federal Government to work towards achieving the salient aspect of the Millennium Development Goal of poverty eradication by 2015 because according to it, the late former first lady worked to ensure the total liberation of impoverished women mostly in the rural areas from the economic hardships imposed on them by the corrupt tendencies and practices of most political office holders.