Murtala: 44 Years After!

It was a day of horror in Lagos, the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The people of Obalende and Ikoyi were thrown into panic and confusion. On February 13, 1976, the Head of State, Gen. Murtala Mohammed, was full of life. At noon, he was getting set for the Jumat service at the Obalende Central Mosque. He did not get to the mosque before he was cut down by coup plotters led by Lt.-Col. Bukar Dimka. It was the end of an era.

The former Commander-in-Chief was assassinated when he was six months old in office. He was 38. His murder provoked rage. Murtala was killed at a time his popularity was soaring. His revolutionary tendencies had endeared him to many Nigerians, who were unhappy about the reluctance of the former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to set up a transition programme.

The Kano-born officer was a man in a hurry. He wanted to maintain a clean break from the past. He was determined to clear the mess in the civil service. In his view, corruption had wrecked havoc on the country and, unless the cankerworm was removed, the future would be bleak. His robust foreign policy also shored up the image of the administration. Owing to the non-alignment policy of the regime, the Head of State became a folk hero among students. Mohammed was also committed to the transition programme set up by the Supreme Military Council (SMC). However, he did not live to implement it.

The deceased military leader was not the only target of the coup plotters. His Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa, his driver, and the military governor of Kwara state, Col. Ibrahim Taiwo, were killed. Other targets were Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Gen. Yakubu Danjuma, the late Gen. Sheu Yar’Adua, Col. Ibrahim Babangida, and Col. Olu Bajowa. A member of the gang, Major I.B Rabo, was detailed to kill Murtala. Another member, Lt. Usman Dauda, was to hit Obasanjo. Lt. Lawrence Garba was to get rid of Danjuma. Dimka, the Director of Army Physical Training Corps, made the coup broadcast. But, what saved Danjuma, the Chief of Army Staff, was that he was attending a conference with top officers. If the coup plotters had insisted on killing him, there would be many casualties. Obasanjo could not be located by the murderers. Another officer, Col. Raymond Dumuje of Army Ordinance Corps, was mistaken for the Owu-born soldier. He was shot and wounded. Babangida later emerged as one of the officers who foiled the coup.

Darkness descended on the nation. Many Nigerians were enraged by the cruel act. As his body was flown to his native Kano, there were wailings. The country was united in mourning. Later, the 38 masterminds, including Dimka and Gen. Illiya Bisalla, the Minister of Defense, were tried and executed by the military. Also executed were former Benue-Plateau Governor Joseph Gomwalk, Col A.D.S Wya, Lt. Col. T.K Adamu, Lt. Col. A.B Umaru, Col. Isa Bukar, Lt. Col. Ayuba Tense, Major D.C Dabang, Major Ola Ogunmekan, Major J.W Kasai, Major J.K Afolayan and Lt. Lawrence Garba. Seven non-commissioned officers were also executed.

The coup changed the course of history. If Murtala had not been killed, the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Obasanjo, would not have become the military Head of State.

Forty two years after, the memory of Murtala’s magnetism, charisma and popularity is evergreen. The Murtala years are still remembered with fondness. However, many civil servants, especially university teachers and top diplomats, who were affected by his pseudo-radical approach, remember him as an impatient soldier and temperamental administrator who spared no thought for details before taking drastic actions. In his book, “Gowon: The Biography of a Soldier-Statesman”, Prof Isawa Elaigwu, described Murtala as a very intelligent and hardworking officer, but was often repulsive and temperamental, a trait that earned him the nickname ‘bulldozer’ among some of his colleagues.” By refusing to heed to strategic advice his troop was drowned in the River Niger in Asaba/Onitsha during the civil war.

When he became the Head of State, he was furious at the system. With immediate effect, the appointment of many civil servants were terminated. Both the good and the bad in the civil service were swept by the gale of forced retirements that characterised the period. Since his ‘tenure’ was brief, perhaps, other weaknesses of the military General could not unfold.

Murtala took over from Gen. Yakubu Gowon in July 1975. He was a civil war hero with lots of exploits. After the civil war, military officers had frowned at the composition of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the post-civil war period. They complained about their exclusion from governance. In the FEC, only few officers including Gowon, Admiral Akinwale Wey and the Inspector General of Police were officers. Restless soldiers were also grumbling that the 11 state governors and one civilian administrator had stayed too long in their offices. They were agitating for their replacements. In response to these agitations in the barracks, Gowon appointed Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo as Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing. He also gave Murtala, a doyen of military signals, the communication portfolio.

However, the days of Gowon were numbered in Doddan Barracks. Many officers were spoiling for war and regime change. Gowon was also not in the dark, although he made no conscious attempt to avert the coup that drew the curtains on his regime. When a top police officer, Dikko Yusufu, alerted him to the danger, he brushed the information aside. In Yusufu’s biography, “Aristocratic Rebel”, the author, Ayo Opadokun, stated that Gowon prevaricated and procrastinated. The General felt no urgency. The Head of State told M.D Yusufu that he knew there was discontent but he was going to handle it in his own way when he returned from the O.A.U meeting”.

At the O.A.U meeting in Kampala, Gowon received the news of his ouster with understanding and philosophical calmness. His cousin and Commander of the Brigade of Guards, Col. Joe Garba, led the bloodless coup. When he was leaving Lagos for Kampala, the Head of State warned the military boys against bloodletting. At the airport, Gowon, as recalled by Elaigwu, told Garba: “If you are plotting, let it be on your own conscience and let it be without bloodshed.”

Historians did not attribute the coup to the thirst for power by senior military officers. But, after the coup, they emerged as the beneficiaries. The planners sought for direction from them. Murtala and Danjuma were renowned coup plotters. They were the brains behind the mutiny that terminated the lives of the first military Head of State, Gen. J.T.U Agwuiyi-Ironsi and the military governor of Western state, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, in Ibadan. Murtala was popular among young officers and it was said that he was asked to become the Head of State to give the change of government a sort of credibility.

When Murtala became the Head of State, Obasanjo became his deputy. He had turned down the suggestion that Brigadiers James Oluleye or Martins Obada should become the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. In fact, historians have always referred to the administration as Murtala/Obasanjo regime. The trio of Murtala, Obasanjo and Danjuma spearheaded socio-economic and political reforms which, in part, repositioned Nigeria. However, Danjuma was previously junior in rank to Major General Illiya Bisalla, who became the Federal Commissioner for Defense. Murtala was immediately promoted to full General and Obasanjo and Danjuma to Lt. Generals. There was tension, following the inability of Bisalla to adjust to the reality of the new power structure.

Murtala was very combative. His maiden speech on July 29, 1975, was explosive. “All members of the Federal Executive Council are hereby dismissed with immediate effect”, he thundered. Subsequently, all executive orders carried the tag of immediacy. No foot-dragging, no lethargy and no tardiness.

Murtala/Obasanjo Administration ushered a new dawn. Corruption, negligence, nepotism, favouritism and tribalism had soared under the Gowon Administration, thereby making critics to question the basis from sacking civilians from power, in the first instance. Although Gowon as an individual was not corrupt, many state governors and federal commissioners had soiled their hands.

Under Murtala, decisions were carried out with dispatch, precision and patriotism. He promptly asked for the list of indolent, lazy and corrupt civil servants across board. He lacked the mechanism of authenticating the claims of the drafters. Indeed, he was impatient. There was no sober reflection in taking decisive actions. The super permanent secretaries who Gowon relied upon as his kitchen cabinet were the first casualties. Their bright careers were cut short. Out of 12 governors, only two: Brigadiers Mobolaji Johnson (Lagos) and Oluwole Rotimi (Western state), survived the gale of dismissals. Many directors and other promising technocrats learnt about their retirements on the radio.

There was instability in the civil service for the first time. University lecturers were not insulated from the military hammer. The move fostered public accountability. But, the negative effects were also far-reaching. Suddenly, civil servants started to cut corners in anticipation of such emergencies. Lecturers started to show inclination for primitive accumulation. Many sacked civil servants faced adjustments difficulties. Some of them fell sick and died.

With immediate effect, Murtala decongested the Apapa ports. He created additional seven states with immediate effect. The former Head of State promised to complete construction works at the international airport, Lagos. He promised to build refineries, bridges and railways. The implementation of these projects was with immediate effect. He promised to stop fuel scarcity and the high cost of petrol and kerosene. Normalcy returned to the sector.

Murtala also played a populist politics. When he promised to hand over to civilians in 1979, he became the toast of the political class. The transition programme took off with immediate effect. It was later completed by his successor, Obasanjo.

The former Head of State made his mark in foreign policy. He attracted some radical intellectuals to himself. One of them was Dr. Patrick Wilmot. His non-alignment position motivated freedom fighters to intensify the agitation for liberation in Africa. Under Murtala, the idea of relocating the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja was mooted.

In post-Murtala period, the nation became the victim of “immediate effect” philosophy. Successive military regimes caught the bug. The Buhari/Idiagbon regime which posed as an offshoot of Murtala/Obasanjo Administration, carried on with the affairs of the state with that sense of immediacy. Both good and bad policies were implemented with urgency.

Following Murtala’s demise, relations between Nigeria and Britain were strained. The Federal Military Government alleged Gowon’s involvement in the Dimka coup. The new Head of State refused to visit United Kingdom throughout his reign. Pressures were even mounted on him to pull Nigeria out of the Commonwealth of Nations. Gowon, who had enrolled as a student in Warwick University, denied his involvement.

The former Head of State was immortalised. The Lagos international airport was re-named ‘Murtala Mohammed International Airport’. Few other monuments were also named after the gallant officer. For a year or two, February 13 was observed as a public holiday.

But what would have happened, if he was not killed in 1976? Probably, he would have also retired into politics or business, or become a non-state actor in the international community.

This piece was first published in 2015 but reposted now after a little editing and additions by me, the writer, Valiant Samson Idowu-Alaba.