Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Babankowa is a retired police commissioner. His name might not be familiar, but his action can never be forgotten in the history of Nigeria . It was him, shortly after the 1966 coup, who discovered the bodies of the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa and his Finance Minister, Chief Okotie Eboh, who had been taken by the coupists to the outskirts of Lagos, Sango-Ota, and shot dead. A retiree and elder statesman, Babankowa is a close associate of the President Muhammadu Buhari, for the past 43 years. In this interview at his residence in Hadejia Road, Kano, he says the Buhari administration would not disappoint Nigerians.
What is his best food?
Buhari is somebody who will not miss his three square meals, however small the meals may be, just to put something in the stomach, he must eat something. He does not joke with that. Even if we are traveling, provision is always made for that in the car. Do you know Alikama? That is wheat. There is something we called Tuwo Alikama. He likes it very much, with different types of soup. It could be okro, or any other soup.
How about drinks?
He does not drink anything outside Fanta, Coca Cola and water. His love for Nigeria is something else. He is always looking for what he can give rather than what he can get and that is why he has nothing, compared to our so-called leaders. He has only three houses, two in Kaduna and one in Daura. The one in Daura is just a two-bedroom bungalow. One of the two houses in Kaduna is for his visitors while he occupies one.