The "Maryam Phenomenon" became a celebrity and "an icon of beauty, fashion and style", a position she retained after her husband's exit from power.

Her parents were Hajiya Asabe Halima Mohammed from the present Niger State, a Hausa, and Leonard Nwanonye Okogwu from Asaba, an Igbo.

Later she obtained a diploma in secretarial studies [clarification needed] from La Salle Extension University (Chicago, Illinois) and a Certificate in Computer Science from the NCR Institute in Lagos.

[3] Her hobbies were gardening, interior decoration, music, squash, badminton, collecting birds, philanthropic activities and reading.

[citation needed] When her husband became head of state in 1985, Maryam Babangida moved with her children into Dodan Barracks in Lagos.

[12] Working with the National Council for Women's Societies (NCWS)., she had significant influence, helping gain support for programmes such as the unpopular SFEM (Special Foreign Exchange Market)[13] program to cut subsidies, and to devalue and fix the currency.

Talking about the opening of the seven-day Better Life Fair in 1990, one journalist said "She was like a Roman empress on a throne, regal and resplendent in a stone-studded flowing outfit that defied description..." Women responded to her as a role model, and her appeal lasted long after her husband fell from power.