Remembering Late Head Of State General Murtala Muhammed

 

One of Nigeria’s former leaders with indelible footprints on the sands of time is the late former head of state, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed.

He became the head of state following a coup that ousted General Yakubu Gowon in 1975.

Although, he is one of the military rulers who led Nigeria through years of dictatorship, he has his name engraved on some of Nigeria’s most important infrastructure, including the international airport in Lagos and his portrait on the Twenty naira note.

He was in his early 20s when he joined the Nigerian army and exited, a slain military head of state, at the age of 37 when he was killed by Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka.

The late General Murtala Muhammed created the seven states that brought to 19 the number of states at that time.

The states he created were Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Imo, Niger, Ogun and Ondo.

Again, it was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the Heads of states meeting of the then Organisation of African Unity, OAU, now African Union, AU that the late military leader unequivocally stated during his speech, ‘’Africa has come of age, it is no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power”, and within hours, the speech travelled all over the world.

This was in pursuance to his bold stance against apartheid in South Africa and any form of oppression in any African country.

For the other heads of state that assembled for the OAU meeting, it was shocking to them that a leader could be so blunt to the powers that be.

General Muhammed was not billed to attend the meeting but his second in command then, General Olusegun Obasanjo was.

However, upon realization that the west was lobbying to push for ulterior motive at the meeting, which he considered detrimental to Pan Africanism, the Nigerian leader cancelled his hand full engagements in the country to attend the Addis Ababa meeting to register his position.

On 13 February 1976, General Murtala Muhammed was set for work along his usual route on George Street in Ikoyi, his Mercedes Benz car moved slowly in the infamous Lagos traffic when a group of soldiers, members of an abortive coup led by Liutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka ambushed the vehicle and assassinated him.

Today, it is exactly 48 years General Murtala Muhammed, the Kano born head of state was assassinated but his legacies are still standing.

One of which is the Terminal One of the Lagos airport which the regime of General Muhammed built and named after him, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Again, General Murtala Muhammed’s assassination brought some revolution into the paraphernalia of the office of the Head of State.

These include avoiding traffic, inclusion of spare vehicle, an ambulance and a fortified security attached to the convoy of the Head of State.

Today, such convoy fortification has extended to Governors, ministers and even heads of parastatals.

It has become timely to remind the beneficiaries of this innovation to also add value to the society as the late Head of State did.

They must stand for Africa, boldly too and entrench federalism that the late General Muhammed propagated.

At 37, he had the discipline and foresight to lead a great nation like Nigeria.

The youths must see this as a challenge to contribute to national development.

The nation’s leaders must also give the youths a chance by empowering them appropriately.

African leaders on the other hand must reflect on the Addis Ababa speech of the late Nigerian Head of State, to get a rightful position for the continent in the global arena.

Indeed, ‘’Africa has come of age, it is no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power.

By Tersoo Zamber, Edited by Grace Namiji