NewStats: 3,264,091 , 8,182,571 topics. Date: Monday, 09 June 2025 at 04:08 PM 3i3p1t

Former Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida stepping out of a Mercedes Benz 600 Pullman in 1987.

The 600 Pullman was one of the top-rated and most expensive cars in those days.

Benzo

Others are concentrating on the Benz forgetting to realise that the looting by these thieves didn't start today.

34 years down the lane the car is obsolete

Why do we Amass power and money that will turn out to be obsolete sooner or later

This is a lesson that we should all learn from

Nothing last forever

Only God that is the supremo

He never old nor age

He never sleeps nor slumber

He never seize to reign

He his I am that I am

He’s the greatest and will be forever

We give you praise and honor

The greatest than the greatest
The celestial master of the universe

Add yours if you concur

IBB legs get misunderstanding for the photo o.

sarrki:
34 years down the lane the car is obsolete

Why do we Anna’s power and money that will turn out to be obsolete sooner or later

This is a lesson that we should all learn from

Nothing last forever

Only God that is the supremo

He never old nor age

He never sleeps nor slumber

He never seize to reign

He his I am that I am

He’s the greatest and will be forever

We give you praise and honor

The greatest than the greatest
The celestial master of the universe

Add your

I like the way you reason.

But you seem to forget Nigeria is a wasteland. Cars that have depreciated in other countries ten years ago come in here and appreciate.

Because Nigeria is the only wasteland where cars aren't used for movement but intimidation.

chatinent:


I like the way you reason.

But you seem to forget Nigeria is a wasteland. Cars that depreciates in other country come here and appreciate.

Even that said it will be obsolete in Nigeria too

The moral of the post is we should know that one day everything will end

sarrki:


Even that said it will be obsolete in Nigeria too

The moral of the post is we should know that one day everything will end

The moral I see is man's government has failed.

That's the W100 that was used by Gowon, Obasanjo (only when receiving foreign heads of state), Shagari and Babangida.


The last time I saw it was when it was used to take Obasanjo to the Eagle Square on May 29, 2007.

Here are videos of the car.

President Hilla Liman of Ghana visited President Shehu Shagari in 1980. They left the Murtala Muhammed Airport in the W100 600.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sabjJUph2Y

A county living above it's means since time immemorial...Nigerian president deserve nothing more than at taking into cognizance the poor work they do

naptu2:
Aha! Here's the video of the state car.

President Ibrahim Babangida created Akwa Ibom and Katsina states in 1987 and he visited both states in 1988 to mark their first anniversaries. I believe that this video is from Katsina State's first anniversary.

President Babangida used Peugeot 504 cars as his official cars when he became president. However, the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, visited Nigeria in 1988 and they brought back the W100 limousine for her use. The W100 had been used by General Gowon, General Obasanjo (very rarely and only when receiving guests) and President Shagari before being put into storage.

President Babangida would also use a stretch Peugeot 505 limousine as his "everyday" official car from 1989-1991 (the W100 was reserved for special occasions) and then came the controversy of 1991.

Nigeria hosted the OAU Summit in 1991 and lots of 6-door W124 (V-Boot) limousines were bought to ferry African leaders around Abuja. There were many rumours about the number and cost of the cars. One rumour was that a driver had driven one of the limousines across the border to Benin Republic and sold it there. President and Mrs Babangida both used these stretch limousines from 1991 until they left office.

The last time that I saw the W100 was in 2007, when it was used to take President Olusegun Obasanjo to Eagle Square for the inauguration of President Yar'Adua.


Watch from the 3:22 minute mark for a good view of the 600.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPPkK7dCfSE

naptu2:
I didn't know that General Obasanjo used the 600 (W100). I know that he used S Class Mercedes and Peugeot 504s, but I didn't know that he used the 600.


At the end of this video General Obasanjo ushers Kenneth Kaunda into an S Class Mercedes, but CVU officials inform Obasanjo that they are meant to use the 600 (which is behind the S Class), so they both walk back to where the 600 was.

The final shot in the video is of the 600 as it leaves the Presidential Wing.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUhfL8rYAgQ

naptu2:
Two hated presidents and a 600 (April 1st, 1980).


The number 1 state car (Mercedes Benz 600) was green during the Gowon era, then painted dark blue during Shagari's time (as you can see in this video) and it was finally painted black when Babangida was president.

There were lots of Ghanaians in Lagos in the early 1980s and none of the ones I knew had anything good to say about Hilla Limann. They were all happy when Rawlins came back.

Shagari wasn't particularly hated, but people really hated his government and hated the fact that he didn't do anything about his thieving ministers.

Notice that some of Shagari's NSO bodyguards are wearing agbadas and babaringas in order to blend in.


President Hilla Limann visits Nigeria and is received at the airport by President Shagari and groups of ghanaians resident in Lagos. Both presidents leave the airport in the Mercedes Benz 600 (W100).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sabjJUph2Y

naptu2:
Mercedes Benz 600 (W100).

There were a lot of Mercedes Benz W114 and W123 stretch limousines in Lagos in the 1970s and early '80s (my neighbour had a stretch W114 that he bought in the 1970s. He abandoned it beneath his balcony in the 1980s, but he planned to revive it if he had won the 1991 governorship election. He didn't win and he eventually scrapped the car in 2003. His son had a stretch W124). These cars were usually of the 4 door with 3 rows of seat variety.

The W114 and W123 limousines were so common that some people felt that they needed something different in order to stand out from the crowd. That thing was the Mercedes Benz 600 (W100). It was very rare. There was one at Dodan Barracks (used by Gowon, Shagari, Babangida and lastly by Obasanjo on May 29th, 2007), Awolowo had one (Awolowo arrived the Enugu meeting in the 600, Zik arrived in a W116 S Class and Waziri Ibrahim arrived in a Peugeot 504), but they were very rare (I still have pictures of those two cars).

The car was very popular with heads of state. King Hassan of Morocco had a 6 door version and a special state landaulet version was ordered by the German Government for the visit of Queen Elizabeth in the 1960s. Most people felt that the 600 was better than its rival, the Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (it was nicknamed "the car of dictators because military dictators loved it). The idea behind the 3 rows of seats was that you could have two heads of state sitting on the 3rd row, while a secretary and an interpreter would sit on the middle (rear facing) seat and in this way the host head of state and the visiting head of state could have a meeting in the car.

The 600 is one of the two most iconic Mercedes Benz cars (the other being the 1952 Mercedes Benz 300sl Gullwing) and it was the inspiration for the Mercedes Benz S Class. The Mercedes Benz W100 was produced from 1963-1981.

chatinent:


The moral I see is man's government has failed.

The whole society as a Nigeria failed

Our government are not alien

They are among us

They walk the way up

The same people we have now are not the same we have 30 years ago

Only a few

Why haven’t things changed

So it’s a societal thing bro

Two left legs ..that's all I see

[quote author=naptu2 post=105738859][/quote] zuo Ike..
U dey spam the thread

mightyhaze:
zuo Ike..
U dey spam the thread

He no spam anything. He's educating us and we're enjoying him

Kudos naptu2

Omoluabi1stborn:


He no spam anything. He's educating us and we're enjoying him

Kudos naptu2

na omoalubi be the second Monika?

mightyhaze:
na omoalubi be the second Monika?

U need deliverance

Omoluabi1stborn:


U need deliverance

ok.. but cut down on the spamming ... Please

Several Rolls Royce cars were used as the Nigerian Number 1 state car in the colonial and post colonial era. The most famous of them were the Rolls Royce Phantom V and Phantom VI.

Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Aguiyi-Ironsi and Yakubu Gowon were all chauffeured in Rolls Royces.

Rolls Royces were also used by the Nigerian High Commission in the UK.

See pictures below

(This are pictures of the Nigerian High Commission's cars. I will post pictures and videos of the state cars used by governors-general of Nigeria and of the cars used by Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa).

The first car is a Rolls Royce Phantom V, while the others are Phantom VI.

FGN = Federal Government of Nigeria (that was the license plate for Nigerian Government cars back in the day, but we also had CVU, that is, Conference Visitors Unit of State House).

Definitely nothing is last forever
As long technology is exactly the old will be either sideline, discard and abandoned

This life sef!

Igbos say " ife oma adighi agwu agwu" meaning "Better thing no dey finish"

Person wey take him mama do rituals because of Volkswagen Santana in 1987 needs to come to 2021 and see cars.

I wish that I had a camera phone in the 1970s and 1980s. I lived close to the presidential ground fleet and also close to CVU and 15 Awolowo Road at the time and I could see all the cars in those places.


Heads of state of Nigeria began using Mercedes Benz cars during the Gowon era. General Gowon was the last head of state of Nigeria to use a Rolls Royce Phantom as his official car, but he also used a W100 Mercedes Benz 600 and other Mercedes Benz Pullman limousines.

See pictures below.


General Murtala Muhammed wanted to cut down on the fanfare that came with the office, so he stopped other government officials from using stretch limousines. Previously, the first lady and the chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters also used stretch limousines. Even state governors used stretch limousines. Murtala ordered that only the head of state would be allowed to use stretch limousines and he stopped all government officials from using motorcades and sirens.

General Obasanjo used a Peugeot 504 as his official car. However, he also used W116 Mercedes Benz S Class cars on special occasions, for example, when receiving foreign heads of state.


The limousine era returned with the Shagari istration. He brought back the W100 600 (this time it was painted dark blue) and he also had a W123 stretch limousine. However, his day to day cars were W126 S Class cars. In fact, the long wheel base W126 was nicknamed "Shagari Benz".

You can see the W126 in the video below.

General Buhari used a Volkswagen Santana as his day to day car, but he also used Shagari's W126 S Class for special occasions as you can see in the video below.



President Babangida used a Peugeot 504 as his official car at the beginning of his istration. However, he received two special guests, the King of Spain (c1986) and the Prime Minister of the UK (c1988) and the W100 600 limousine was brought out for those visits. After that President Babangida began using the 600 as his official car.

A new limousine ed the fleet in 1989. It was a stretched Peugeot 505 7v, as you can see in this video.


Lots of 6-door W124 limousines were bought for the OAU Summit in Abuja in 1991 and President and Mrs Babangida began using those limousines afterwards.

Just before leaving office, President Babangida traded in the 505 limousine for some 605 limousines and both Ernest Shonekan and Sanni Abacha used those cars.

Abdulsalam Abubakar and Mike Aikhigbe used the 6-door W124 limousines during their tenure as you can see in this video.

The Obasanjo era (1999-2007) was the last time that a Nigerian head of state used stretch limousines as official cars. The Abdulsalam Abubakar regime bought W140 stretch limousines and sedans and Obasanjo and Atiku used those cars as you can see from the pictures and videos below

sarrki:
34 years down the lane the car is obsolete

Why do we Amass power and money that will turn out to be obsolete sooner or later

This is a lesson that we should all learn from

Nothing last forever

Only God that is the supremo

He never old nor age

He never sleeps nor slumber

He never seize to reign

He his I am that I am

He’s the greatest and will be forever

We give you praise and honor

The greatest than the greatest
The celestial master of the universe

Add yours if you concur

That car being a vintage can still buy ur destiny. U know zombie destiny no dey cost too much

sarrki:
34 years down the lane the car is obsolete

Why do we Amass power and money that will turn out to be obsolete sooner or later

This is a lesson that we should all learn from

Nothing last forever

Only God that is the supremo

He never old nor age

He never sleeps nor slumber

He never seize to reign

He his I am that I am

He’s the greatest and will be forever

We give you praise and honor

The greatest than the greatest
The celestial master of the universe

Add yours if you concur

Zombie don become pastor overnight

Abeg the only useless nairaland pastor we know is Righteousness