The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), on Wednesday, felicitated with former President Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
The association extended its congratulatory message to the former president in a statement signed by the National President, Prof. Innocent Ujah in Abuja.
Ujah commended the former military head of state for the strides he achieved in the health sector and wished him good health in the years ahead.
He stated that “it is memorable that it was Retired Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR that created the Medical Salary Scale (MSS) and the Medical Super Salary Scale (MSSS) and approved the allocation of land for the permanent site of the association in Maitama, Abuja.
“He also established the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to bring healthcare closer to communities and the downtrodden.
“These strides endeared him to Nigerian doctors and dentists who appreciated him by awarding him with the highest honour of Fellow of the Nigerian Medical Association (FNMA).
“It also marked him out as a quintessential leader who boldly attempted to stem the tide of medical brain drain by instituting a regime of improved welfare of our teeming members.
“With all these innovations, the former president made history for which he will ever be remembered for.”
Ujah prayed Almighty Allah to endow IBB with peace of mind as he lives to celebrate many more birthdays.
Born on Aug. 17, 1941 in Minna to Muhammad Babangida and Aisha Babangida, IBB received early Islamic education before attending primary school from 1950 to 1956 and attended Government College, Bida, from 1957 to 1962
together with classmates Abdulsalami Abubakar, Mamman Vatsa, Mohammed Magoro Sani Bello, Garba Duba, Gado Nasko and Mohammed Sani Sami.
Babangida joined the Nigerian Army on Dec. 10, 1962, where he attended Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna and commissioned as a second lieutenant as a regular combatant officer in the Royal Nigerian Army a month before it became Nigerian Army with the personal army number N/438 from the Indian Military Academy on Sept. 26, 1963.
The retired Nigerian Army general and politician served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993.
Married to late Maryam Babangida (1969-2009), he has four children: Mohammed Babangida, Aisha Babangida, Halima Babangida and Aminu Babangida.