The Babangida family was born with a gift for soccer. Tijani shone particularly brightly for Roda and Ajax. Haruna played in Barcelona’s youth teams and came to be considered one of the most promising talents in world soccer. For his part, Ibrahim took his first steps, also in the Eredivisie, in the ranks of Volendam.
However, they have been dealt a heavy blow. Tijani (50) and Ibrahim (47) were involved in a fatal car accident on the Kaduna-Zaria road.
According to reports from Nigeria, Ibrahim has died and Tijani is in critical condition, although conscious. Tijani’s wife and a female employee were also in the car and have also been taken to hospital.
Babayaro asks for prayers
“Comrades! Let us pray for our president, Tijani Babangida, who has just been involved in a terrible car accident on the Kaduna-Zaria Eoad road,” announced Emmanuel Babayaro, Tijani’s former teammate and now secretary general of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), of which Tijani himself is president.
The elder Babangida, it is worth remembering, was capped 36 times for Nigeria (5 goals). His greatest success with the ‘Super Eagles’ was the Olympic gold medal at Atlanta’96.
