Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, rtd, has announced that he is in search of a new wife.
Speaking with The Sun, the former Head of State stated that he would not marry a very young woman. He expressed fear that the new wife may not be able to live the way he lived with his late wife and former First Lady, Maryam.
Thelagostimes recalls that his late wife, Asaba Delta-born Maryam died on Sunday, December 27, 2009, succumbing to ovarian cancer at the University of California’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles. She died at the age of 61.
IBB told The Sun: “Yes, I am quite sure. I’m searching and I’m hoping. But the longer I wait, maybe, the more problematic it becomes.
“If it drags, I would be too old and the whole idea of having a partner would seem to diminish. But I will make sure [I have a partner] before reaching that stage.
“If somebody is in the corner, you could organize that in three or six months.
“And because it must be somebody you have known for a long time, or somebody you have been in contact with for a long time, you don’t just tell them look this is for marriage.
“But as time passes, and relationship building continues, it could end up in marriage.
“However, I have to be fair in my search. I really want to be fair. For instance, you don’t expect me to take a wife much younger than I am because that will be a problem for her and for me.
“I have to be fair. Secondly, I do wonder if she (the chosen one) would be able to live the way Maryam and I did, which is not easy these days. So, I keep on praying; and I think it will happen.”