EXACTLY 49 years ago, 13 February 1976 was a Friday, a black Friday made more mournful by the assassination of General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, fondly called Murtala, in an abortive coup led by Lt Col. Bukar Suka Musa Dimka. Murtala’s untimely death reportedly drew unprecedented outpouring of grief and bestirred national outrage against those who brutally terminated his life. There was great anger against the act that sought to truncate a reinvigorated vision of a new Nigeria, which Murtala was believed to be pursuing with vigour and conviction.
Almost five decades after his demise, Murtala remains one of the most celebrated Nigerian former military Head of State. He was a purposeful leader, charismatic, farsighted, brusque and patriotic. In his foreword to a 2001 biography of Muhammed written by Taiwo Ogundipe entitled The Hurricane, former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, who served as Murtala’s second in command asserted that “Late General Muhammed may have been in power for only six months, before he was tragically assassinated, but those are six months that are indelibly embossed on records of modern Nigeria. For they were six months when Nigeria intensely experienced leadership that was focused, dedicated, dynamic and selfless. Most importantly, those six months provided the launching pad for the most positive developments in leadership orientation in this country, including the hand-over power to the elected government in 1979”.
Like any human being, Ogundipe acknowledged that Murtala might have had his weaknesses. As a young military officer, he got embroiled in the cauldron that was Nigerian politics, in the fiery battle for sectional dominance. The resultant abortion of the republican democracy and the eventual outbreak of the civil war saw Murtala playing a leading role as a dogged warlord, some of whose actions were regarded as tactless and costly. These actions included the famous Abagana debacle in which a handful of Biafran soldiers routed the better-equipped Nigerian army of almost a brigade strength commanded by Murtala. There was also the disastrous crossing of the Niger bridge by troops led by Murtala.
Easily, the most sordid of Murtala’s indiscretion was the horrendous Asaba Massacre, which was first brought to public consciousness by Emma Okocha, the iconoclast journalist and writer, in his book, Blood On The Niger. The infamy in Asaba has also been the subject of drama sketches, documentaries and books including The Asaba Massacre, Trauma, Memory and the Nigerian Civil War co-authored by S. Elizabeth Bird, Fraser M. Ottanelli. The authors gave a vivid account of the massacre through the lens of a survivor. “When the Federal troops arrived, they were angry and full of hate and they took out their fury on the innocent. Asaba people kin to Biafra yet loyal to the Federation became “the most vulnerable Nigerians,” in the words of Wole Soyinka. As Nigerians they expected protection and were rewarded with death” no thanks to Murtala and his lieutenant, Col. Ibrahim Taiwo who also met his untimely death during the coup of Friday 13 February 1976.
After the war, Murtala did not just settle down into a quiet and routine military life. He made himself the conscience of the nation by constantly speaking against societal ills and inept leadership. Even when he became a member of the ruling cabinet, he was relentless in his outspokenness against the purposeless leadership. The high point of his administration has been chronicled thus:
·July 30, 1975: New governors and SMC members appointed.
·July 31, 1975: Gowon and all other major-generals retired with immediate effect.
·August 1, 1975: retirement of all civil Commissioners in the Federal Executive Council.
·August 6, 1975: New Commissioners appointed into Federal Executive Council
·August 8, 1975: Panel on State Creation set up.
·August 12, 1975: Panel on the proposed federal capital territory under justice Aguda set up.
·August 22, 1975: Anti-inflation task force headed by Professor Onitiri holds inaugural meeting.
·August 23, 1975: 40 workers in armed forces Medical Service sacked (one of the first purges in the civil service purge).
·August 24, 1975: Justice Darnley Alexander appointed the Chief Justice of Nigeria in place of Dr. Taslim Elias who had quit.
·August 28, 1975: Federal Government takes over Ahmadu Bello University and University of Ife.
.August 31, 1975: Prices of sugar slashed by 50 percent.
·September 1, 1975: Federal Government takes over New Nigerian newspapers and acquires 60 percent shares in Daily Times.
·September 9, 1975: Panel on abandoned property set up.
·September 13, 1975: Five “super” permanent secretaries including Allison Ayida, Phillip Asiodu, and 47 others retired from Federal civil service.
·September 14, 1975: State Governors arrive for the first meeting of the newly constituted Council of State.
·September 22,1975: Panel on foreign exchange set up.
·September 23, 1975: Panel to probe assets of public officers set up.
·October 2, 1975: Public Complaint and corrupt practices Investigation Bureau set up.
·October 6, 1975: Constitution Drafting Committee set up with Chief F.R.A. Williams as Chairman.
·October 9, 1975: Federal Military Government takes over roads in state capitals.
·October 18, 1975: Millions released for universal primary education by the Federal Government.
·October 27, 1975: Federal Military Government signs agreement for a petro-chemical project.
·November 5, 1975: Cement probes panel begins sitting.
·November 29,1975: Federal Government announces recognition of the MPLA government in Angola.
He created seven new States on 3 February 1976 thereby increasing States in the federation from 12 to 19. He also designated Abuja as the new federal capital and set October 1, 1979 as the terminal date for his military administration and the beginning of a new civilian dispensation. The international airport in Lagos and a host of other monuments scattered in many States of the Federation further immortalise him.
