By  Dapo Olufade Vanguard’s State House Correspondent 1991-93
Meeting in progress. Silence envelopes the hall,deep inside Dodan Barracks, Nigeria’s seat of power. Presiding is Mrs. Maryam Babangida, the First Lady. The audience comprises mainly women and some of her aides. And the subject of discussion? Her pet project: Better Life for Rural Women.

Cameramen are busy recording the event as it unfolds, as are a dozen or so reporters, save one, who are scribbling away on their note books. The exception is not writing because her ball pen unexpectedly ceased writing. The reporter, shocked by the development, presently resorts to giving the pen some flicks hoping and praying at the same time that it will work. It does not.

The unfolding scenario soon catches Mrs. Babangida’s attention. She takes a look at her own pen, a Montblanc, described by its manufacturers as the epitome of timeless design; beckons on the reporter to come.”Have this to continue with your writing,”she tells the reporter.

Reminiscencing on the episode yesterday, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a two term member of the House of Representatives, said it was the first time she would hold a Montblanc. She was reporting for the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, at the time and it was not long after her posting to Dodan Barracks to cover the First Lady.

And just about four months or so after this reporter was deployed to Dodan Barracks, I was tasked by my then editor, Frank Aigbogun, to seek an appointment with her for an interview on the Better Life Project. Her then Chief Press Secretary, late Sam Okolo, facilitated the appointment in a matter of two weeks. To interview her were Frank, Niran Malaolu, Chris Ojokolo (our cameraman) and myself. Chris went on to publish a pictorial book on the Babangida years with a lot of moral support from Maryam.

Protocol was minimal and we were not kept waiting unnecessarily. She responded to our questions with candour. Her passions for the project seeped through her comments.

We saw no opulence in her dressing or in her small office where the interview took place.

Glittering on the wall to her right was the African Prize for Leadership for Sustainable End of Hunger which she had won earlier in the year (1991) with Kenya’s  Professor Wangari Muta Maathai.

At the end of the assignment where she went to Abike’s aid with a pen, Abike walked up to her, thanking her for her concern, and then streched her hand to return the pen.

“No”, came the response from Mrs Babangida.” Keep it,” she added. Abike covered her for four years during which time they developed a close relationship. They travelled the length and breadth of Nigeria and even abroad.

“Each time we travelled, madam would ensure that we were all well catered for and comfortable, but the job must be done,” she said.

“She treated me as one of her own.We were always in touch. She kept monitoring my progress. When I was contesting (election into the House of Reps) she supported me financially and otherwise.

“The first time she was rumoured dead, I called her and the phone rang and rang.When there was no response I was apprehensive. But about 10 minutes later she called back and we discussed.

“Ten days ago, I called her again and told her I was looking forward to her return to Nigeria.

“We wemt round villages in the country monitoring and commissioning Better Life procts.Thta project is one of the most successful by any NGO in the country.

“Working with her you learned so many things. Whereever she saw me she called me a Better Life project. She was quite proud of me.

She was caring, yet strict and firm.That is why all her children are humble and well behaved.”