In Ekiti and Anambra states yesterday, prominent Nigerians, including Action Congress (AC) candidate in the 2007 election, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Peoples Democratic (PDP) Candidate in the February 2010 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo and several others, paid tribute to the memory of Mrs. Maryam Babangida.

Fayemi described the death as a rude shock, not to him alone, but to the entire nation.

In a statement issued by Director of Communication of his campaign organisation, Mr Yemi Adaramodu, Fayemi urged Babangida to take solace in the Quranic injuction which states that from Allah we have come and to Him we shall return.

Describing her as a "rare gem," Soludo said he was deeply saddened by the news of her death, adding that she was a national icon, especially amongst women who got Nigerians to rally round her Better Life for Rural Women project.

"She used her charity foundation to alleviate poverty in Nigeria's rural communities where many lives were touched and improved, and in this process, she elevated the office of the First Lady of Nigeria to a noble function. God bless her memory, we shall all miss her,"he said.

And to the governorship candidate of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), and member, House of Representatives, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, the death was very painful to all Nigerians, especially the women folk.

In a statement, she described her as "a great philanthropist, an icon, a great mobiliser and stabiliser of Nigerian women, especially those in the rural areas who she liberated from years of neglect. For me in particular, I am going to miss her, because she had always been my role model."

Ekwunife said Mariam died at a time Nigerian women needed her most, especially at this time they are becoming visible in Nigerian politics, adding that though she is dead, the struggle for liberation and betterment would continue and prayed for the repose of her soul and for God to give her family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Also, Candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, described Maryam's death as a national loss considering her contributions to the development of the nation and to the upliftment of the status of Nigeria's rural women.

While praying God to accept her soul in paradise, Ukachukwu also prayed God to give the family the fortitude to bear the loss.