Dutch Eredivisie giants, Ajax Amsterdam, paid tributes to Super Eagles legend Tijani Babangida who was involved in a ghastly auto-crash in Nigeria that claimed the life of his brother and former Nigerian footballer Ibrahim Babangida.
The ghastly motor accident was reported on Thursday, May 9, 2024, along the Kaduna–Zaria Road.
Against previous reports that Tijani has passed on, a new report emerged the former Super Eagles player only suffered severe injuries and is recovering in the hospital.
However, his brother Ibrahim Babangida was confirmed dead on the spot while his son Fadil didn’t make it on the hospital bed. Tijani’s wife was also a casualty of the crash, suffering a severe injury to the face but is reportedly recovering at the hospital.
In solidarity with Tijani, Ajax, one of the clubs he played for on Europe during his playing career in Europe, mounted a guard of honor with a banner for the footballing legend.
The Eredivisie giants mounted the guard before the kick-off of their last game of the season against Vitesse on Sunday, May 19, 2024.
Vitesse, Ajax opponents, also took part in the guard of honor as they also had Tijani playing for the club while in the Netherlands.
The two teams held a banner that read, “Baba Veel Sterkte.” Meaning “Good luck Baba.”
Ajax was the third team Babangida played for in Europe and he won one league title (1997/98) as well as two Cup titles in 1997/98 and 1998/99. He scored 20 goals for them in 77 appearances.
For Nigeria, he played a crucial part in Nigeria’s Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games football gold win and featured at the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations as well as the 1998 and 2000 World Cups. He scored Nigeria’s only goal in the second-round defeat against Denmark in 1998.
