Former Nigeria Military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has revealed that he initially wanted to become a civil engineer.
While clarifying why he did not go for his dream, he said the decision by the then government of Northern Nigeria that youths of his time should be enlisted into the Nigerian army changed the course of his destiny.
Babangida made this known during a live radio programme anchored by the Federal University of Technology, FUT, Minna campus radio, ‘Search FM’, on Saturday morning.
Babangida recalled that on the completion of primary education, he went to Bida Provincial Secondary School and, after six years, joined the Military Training College, Kaduna, almost immediately.
Babangida said joining the military shaped the rest of his life and what informed his decision to enlist as cadet officer.
“Well, maybe to understand the background, at about that period there was a deliberate government policy”, he said.
“At that time there were not a lot of people from the North who were in the military. So it took a deliberate policy to go around and invite the younger generation from secondary schools, (government colleges) to come and join the military. And that’s what started our career in the military.”
