Maryam Broke Barriers for Nigerian Women, Says Akpabio

Akwa Ibom State Governor,  Godswill Akpabio,  yesterday described  late Mrs. Maryam Babangida  as "a breath of fresh air  while alive, but whose death was a great loss to the nation."
While consoling former military President Ibrahim Babangida in his Minna residence, yesterday, Akpabio said Maryam was a woman of great insight, whose emergence at the national scene broke barriers for Nigerian women.
Akpabio,  in company of  Secretary to the State Government, Mr Umana Okon Umana, and the state chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uwem Ita Etuk, expressed regrets that she died at an age when her strength and encouragement was most needed by her family and the entire nation.

He told reporters that he personally led a delegation to console the Babangidas, because the former First Lady did well in supporting her widower to create Akwa Ibom State in 1987, thereby liberating a people who for years clamoured for a state.
A condolence message by people and government of Akwa Ibom State read,  "I want to offer the sincere condolences of  government and people of Akwa Ibom State to you on the demise of your dear wife, Hajiya Maryam Babangida. We were deeply saddened by the news of her death and we know it must be very difficult for you and your family.

"Hajiya Maryam Babangida was like a breath of fresh air in our national life. She was a woman of great insight and personality, and her death is a great loss to our country. Her contributions to the welfare of womanhood in our country, particularly in her office as First Lady, set a standard for other First Ladies and broke barriers for Nigerian women."