How Babangida helped my family back to England – Lucy Onabanjo
Mrs Lucy Onabanjo, the wife of late Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former governor of Ogun State in Nigeria’s Second Republic has explained how former military dictator, General Ibrahim Gbadamosi helped her family particularly her husband, back to England for medical treatment.
Olabisi Onabanjo who was jailed by General Muhammadu Buhari was released from prison in 1985 alongside others but needed medical attention.
“When he came out of prison in 1985 General Ibrahim Babangida pardoned him alongside others, we all travelled out to England to look after his health. After a while, we came back home when the then Ogun State University wanted to give him an honorary degree. Days after the award, Babangida saw his pictures in the newspapers and television looking emaciated and pale,” she said in an interview in TheNews.
Mrs Lucy Onabanjo
“Babangida then sent three gentlemen to my husband. They are Olusegun Osoba, Felix Adenaike and late Peter Ajayi. Babangida called these gentlemen who were all journalists and said to them: ‘I saw your oga in the newspapers and television. Go and tell him to go back to England to look after his health and I will be responsible for the bill.’ He instructed these men to tell my husband that he wouldn’t want a ‘No’ for an answer.”
“When we were about to go then, the then Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor brought to us money for our tickets, myself, our daughter Toun and my husband. There were other two top government officials who also brought money for us. But due to our usual way of life, we told them that someone had already paid for our tickets.
“But these men insisted that we should take the money. They told us that it was the same IBB who sent them to come and give us money and they could not take the money back to him. That was how we went back to England. It was Babangida who helped us back to England, with government money of course. That instance could best explain part of your question.”
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