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Remembering Ramat |
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By M. O. Ené (EMAIL) New Jersey, USA Wednesday, February 14, 2000 
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Muritala PREAMBLE
A quarter of a century later, the question is: Was Muhammed a military messiah or a murderous muscleman? To answer the question adequately, one must approach the subject dispassionately, not rely on popular emotions and old pains. Unfortunately, no one can divorce emotions and pains when revisiting the short but eventful life of the man whose name still looms larger than life in many circles: General Murtala Ramat Rufai Muhammed, Nigerian military head of state of Nigeria July 29, 1975 - Feb. 13, 1976. So, I may not answer the question directly; you make up your mind. THE MAN Like Sani Abacha, Murtala Muhammed was born and buried in Kano. However, many do not know that their fathers were of Kano but not from Kano; the Abachas were Kanuri from the Chad basin, and the Muhammeds were from Plateau highlands. According to TEMPOLive, Decmber 17, 1998 ["Murtala Mohammed: The Untold Story"-- A report by Innocent Atabo], Mr. Pam Azatus Iyok, left his remote hamlet called Dogon-Gaba near Vom, about 50 kilometers from Jos, Plateau State. He headed north and settled in the thriving sub-Saharan commercial city of Kano earlier in the last century. Mr. Iyok soon became "Hausa," adopted Islam as a way of life, became Muslim Malam Mohammed, and married a local girl named Ramata. And they had Murtala Ramat. Maybe if Murtala Muhammed was not cut short in his prime, he could have lived to apologize to the people of Anioma and Ndiigbo in general for the gutless acts of his army against unarmed civilians caught in a senseless slaughter by supposedly sane soldiers. Like many men growing up in the 50s, Murtala's life was normal. By the end of 1956, according to the history of the Nigerian army, the army had only 14 Nigerians in its 250-man officer corps [Bassey [N/1], Aguiyi-Ironsi [N/2], Ademulegun [N/3], Shodeinde [N/4], Maimalari [N/5], Ogundipe, Adebayo, Kur Mohammed, Largema, Nwawo, Fajuyi, Imo, Pam, and Kurubo]. Now, if Nigeria must become independent, the small number of cadets going to England to train would not cut it. So West African School Certificate holders were granted short service commission (SSC). The first batch that graduated in 1959 included our present president, Olusegun Obasanjo. University graduates were also granted six-month training for SSC: Olutoye (1956), Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1957) [N/29], Ifeajuna and Rotimi (1960), Ademoyega (1962), etc. In the midst of this, the northern Nigeria government of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sarduanan Sokoto, pursued a policy of mass recruitment. Murtala Muhammed was a fruit of that labor. He was a major by 1966. HIS MISSION Since British Maurice Harold Macmillan's "wind of change" blew across 1960s Africa, the continent has had more than its fair share of dark dictators-no pun intended: cold-blooded, callous, and cruel crops of absolute power. While some breeds were a creation of Euro-colonists who had come as tourists and traders but turned round to rule and reign, others were bred by blatantly bankrupt, postcolonial regimes. Some dictators were charismatic and benevolent: Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and Nigeria's Murtala Muhammed spring to mind. Don't get me wrong, coup is coup: There is nothing heroic about taking over state power by force, but there is nothing hideous about a coup that ends political farce. Muhammed's rise to power was not charismatic. Following the coup of January 15, 1966, there was uneasiness across the military and political spectra. On the night of July 28-29, Muhammed, Martin Adamu and Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, working with Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, then chief of army staff, unleashed murder mayhem across the land, from Sagamu to Sokoto. While Danjuma worked with Jerry Useni and company to dispatch then head of state General Aguiyi-Ironsi and western region governor Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, Muhammed was working closer to base with an eye on the throne. But the boys from back home preferred Gowon, the most senior officer north of the great rivers. THE WAR Now Lt.-Colonel Muhammed was chilling in Lagos as the Inspector of Signals when Colonel Victor Banjo blazed across the Mid West on his way to Lagos in a deceitful and totally unnecessary campaign that dealt Biafra the death kneel. At Ore, Banjo switched plans and holed himself, waiting for Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and his coconspirators in Enugu to dethrone Biafran head of state and supposed friend, General Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Banjo's links in the western region were coming apart, thanks to an alleged communication conundrum in Wole Soyinka's "Third Force." According to Soyinka, then Lt. Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo was a mole in the midst, allegedly relaying their secret information to then head of state Gowon. Thus, the in-progress evacuation of soldiers of northern origin was halted. With or without Gowon's blessing, Murtala Muhammed assembled "cooks, batmen, clerks of all kinds and soldiers in the Lagos area … to form the nucleus of 2 Infantry Division." History books will tell you that Muhammed "halted" Banjo at Ore and liberated the Mid West. Nothing could be further from the truth. Banjo was already in Enugu when Muhammed's army waltzed into Benin. The Central Bank was untouched; jailed officers from January 15, 1966 coup, were not released! But the legend of Murtala had started. The truth of the matter is that Murtala Muhammed might have been a great putschist, but he was not by any account a successful war commander. His attempt to enter Onitsha was crushed and beaten back twice, according the official history of the Nigerian army, "with heavy casualties." If that was not enough, Muhammed assembled the greatest motorized army at the time and tried again to take Onitsha from the northeast. The result was even more crushing: the now famous "Abagana Ambush" (which actually centered, I was told recently, around Ifite Dunu, then Ifite Ukpo). The devastation was so intense many wondered if there was more to it than just fighting a war. Of course there was more to it: the activities of Muhammed at Asaba [see "Blood on the Niger"] had trickled out. Biafrans were determined to make him pay. But he miraculously escaped and, according to some sources, airlifted away from the complete carnage. EYE ON THE THRONE No matter how we look at it, Muhammed was not a war success story. Colonel M. Shuwa of the 1 Infantry was far more successful. Colonel Adekunle ("Black Scorpion") of 3 Marine Commando, if we ignore his genocidal impulses, was also a more successful commander. He could have been courageous and better, but history is not on his side. It was no surprise then that Gowon agreed with Chief Anthony Enahoro that the man had become an embarrassment. Enahoro confirmed in 1998 (in Newark, NJ) that Muhammed knew about the massacre of Igbo males at Asaba. As Gowon's Goebbles, Enahoro could not convince Britain to send in more arms with Muhammed still in action. The video was an embarrassment. Muhammed had to go in 1968, one year before the other division commanders were recalled (Obasanjo replaced Adekunle; Bisalla replaced Shuwa). After the war, General Gowon ruled like a czar. He promised to leave someday. Meanwhile, kleptocrats were bent on stealing the nation blind. Gowon probably knew that something was wrong before he left for the 1975 OAU conference in Kampala, Uganda. Since his protégé and a fellow Plateau homeboy Colonel Joseph Nanven Garba was in charge of Dodan Barracks' Brigade of Guards, Gowon felt reassured. But Guardsman Garba had his own agenda. Rumor had it that Garba had an ax to grind with First Lady Victoria Gowon. True or false, Garba eased Gowon out on Tuesday, July 29, 1975 exactly nine years to the day Gowon had "the responsibility thrust upon me." It is doubtful that the so-called "Langtang Mafia" knew now of Muhammed's reportedly REAL ethnic background; Muhammed knew, according to the published report. Whatever, he became head of state in a bloodless coup that could not have come a day sooner. Obasanjo became his No. 2; Danjuma took over the army. Somewhere along the line, as in the ascendancy of Gowon, the army hierarchy was again upset, but no one was checking nor cared about the likes of I.D. Bisalla. On the civilian front, Muhammed settled down to clean house. According to Mrs. Enahoro, his first act was to seize their house in Lagos! She believed it was a vindictive move to get back at her husband for blowing the whistle on his atrocities during the war, which was done to secure arms from Harold Wilson's Britain, not that the then information czar cared much about Igbo blood in his 'hood. But what was Muhammed going to do with ONE house in Lagos when he had Dodan Barracks, and he didn't want to like to live in the obscene opulence? THE COUNTERCOUP Lieutenant-Colonel Bukar Sukar Dimka was not a household name when he surfaced as the dark horse in a very bloody coup on Friday, February 13, 1976. Head of State Muhammed was ambushed on the streets of Lagos and killed in a rain of bullets. His aide-de-camp Lt Akintunde Akinsheinwa, a young Yoruba officer, also lost his life. We must not forget, as is often the case, Col. Ibrahim Taiwo, the governor of Kwara State. Dimka holed up at Radio Nigeria. Enter IBB. Oh yes, same old Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. A prolonged standoff could have spurred supporters of the coup into action. IBB probably knew this, and he was not going to talk turkey. With Muhammed dead, anything was possible, assuming the likes of Bisalla were actually in the loop. He talked Dimka into granting him an "audience," but IBB had other plans. "The Maradonna" struck. Outsmarted, Dimka abandoned his little empire and fled; he got as far as Afikpo. No thanks to the allure of 'Sisi Akwanda,' he could not make it to Cameroon. Dimka and his coconspirators were tried in camera, in accordance with Decree No. 8 of 1976 signed into law by General Obasanjo. There was minimal review of the special tribunal's verdicts. Dimka and 38 others were summarily executed, including General Bisalla. There were so many intriguing factors in the aftermath of this 1976 failed putsch. Some believed the CIA was out to get Muhammed and, if we believe the Boabab press, Obasanjo was in the know. Whatever, the bloodbath was disconcerting: 95% of those executed were of Middle-Belt extraction. Exiled Gowon was fingered as the mastermind. The brutal killing of popular Muhammed did the accused soldiers no favors. In a rush to justice, Colonel A.D.S. Wya and probably others who had no part in the bloody coup were executed. Unknowingly, the army was sowing spicy seeds of deadly division and entrenched ethnocentrism within its officer ranks. Many more would die. For this singular act of Obasanjo, many people were ready to shrug and walk away when Sani Abacha had him implicated in coup he probably knew little about. In a letter to The New York Times dated July 29, 1995, the Ambassador of Nigeria to the United States of America Zubair Mahmud Baraden Kazaure wrote: The trial of General Olusegun Obasanjo was carried out on the basis of Decree 8 of 1976 signed and issued by General Obasanjo, who recognized that the decree is required for maintaining peace and stability in a highly volatile society like ours. THE LEGACY CONTINUES Many people of goodwill considered Murtala Muhammed's murder a tragedy. Nigeria immortalized him on the twenty-naira bill, named the international airport at Ikeja after him amongst many others. There was [still is(?)] a bust of him erected opposite the military cemetery in Enugu. No doubt about it, he was a doer, and that's what Nigerians want. If General Sani Abacha had not degenerated to spectacular stealing and callous killing of opponents, even his enemies would have loved him for certain actions, and the revelation that he was murdered would have raised more eyebrows. Muhammed was a man of action. In failure or success, he acted and with immediate effect. A messiah he was not, strictly speaking, but his legacies are still felt in Nigeria. He set up the panel that recommended Abuja and the new federal capital territory. (If he had been at Aso Rock, he probably would still be alive.) He set up the 59 wise men who injected Sharia into the Constitution. Even though he did not live to midwife the Second Republic, Obasanjo delivered on Muhammed's promise, and he (Obasanjo) is back to inherit the fallouts from the 1979 Rotimi Williams constitution. Muhammed affected so many people one way or another. He redefined Nigeria's anti-apartheid policy and took more than a keen interest in Angola. He made many people proud to be Nigerian citizens because Gowon's cup was full and overflowing. Murtala Muhammed followed up on the twelve-state structure with four states carved out of the North, one from the East, two from the West, and none for Midwest. A second state for the East to be called "Waawa State" [present Enugu and Ebonyi States] was reportedly erased on the way to the radio station, following protests from some powerful misinformed Igbo elite. As a result, there were 19 nineteen states and a "problem of percentage" in the 1979 presidential elections. Thus dawned more states in the north (10). And Murtala Muhammed made Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (Money Kudi Owo). Alhaji Abiola [MKO] was a rags-to-riches, self-made man. Stories and speculations on how MKO came into money and took over the ITT operations in Africa and Middle East are many. One thing that MKO himself admitted was that meeting Murtala Muhammed marked the turning point in his life. MKO joined the International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) as an accountant in December 1968. He had previously worked for Pfizer. The war was still raging, and while Biafrans fought and ran from the combined Anglo-Soviet and Nigerian onslaught, young MKO chased a dream. After Biafra, MKO was still at ITT. He took it upon himself to recover 3.5 million pounds owed his employer by the federal ministry of communication. MKO got the money, thanks to then Brigadier Muhammed and a little prodding from Major General Hassan Usman Katsina, then chief of army staff. What happened next provides enough material for a full-length porno movie. MKO told it to a newspaper journalist [New Nigerian, June 1, 1985, as quoted in EIR magazine]. With booze and babes caught in film, and 3.5-million-pounds-sterling check in hand, he practically blackmailed his expatriate boss out of the country and took over. Moshood and Murtala apparently became close thereafter. I doubt he knew what MKO had done. Like many celebrity stories, the threshold of facts is soon attained; apocryphal versions, so juicy and colorful, take over. It is believed in some circles that the money looted from the Central Bank, Benin City, during the war was laundered through MKO. Question is, who looted the money? True or false, Muhammed passed on in 1976, and MKO prospered on his goodwill and made friends in the military setup. Unfortunately for the most popular president Nigeria never had, MKO military friends made him -- and they killed him. FINALLY Not everyone liked Murtala Muhammed's immediate-effect approach to governance, but that did not make him a bad person. As in all actions that come with fiat, innocent people easily get caught in the midst of the many guilty. His mass retrenchment of civil servants was reckless, and it hurt so many people. Good or bad, the issue here however is that Muhammed left lasting legacies. Unfortunately, they are tainted by blood on the Niger, an act that rises to the level of war crime and for which many Serbian warlords were prosecuted and found guilty. "Otu Oganihu" agrees; the group wants the man tried posthumously. Well, it won't happen, not with Obasanjo on the throne. Maybe if Murtala Muhammed was not cut short in his prime, he could have lived to apologize to the people of Anioma and Ndiigbo in general for the gutless acts of his army against unarmed civilians caught in a senseless slaughter by supposedly sane soldiers. For a man who acknowledged, "In the endeavor to build a strong, united and virile nation, Nigerians have shed much blood," he would have told the truth as he saw it and made it up somehow. He did not; we were still "Biafra"-shocked at the time to raise the matter. It was left to now evangelizing Yakubu Gowon, his ex-boss, to apologize without acknowledging that he knew all about the massacre and that he had seen the film (according to Enahoro). Nigerians may not remember Muhammed by this callous crime and, if they do, it will not likely define his entire existence. Abacha was stuck with the hanging of Saro-Wiwa, but it did not define his reign. IBB earned the hauteur of history with the annulment of June 12 election, not for his political pragmatism and toothy smile. Buhari weighed in with his zany zealousness and extreme effectiveness, thanks to his unsmiling, stone-faced No. 2, late General Tunde Idiagbon. We remembered Obasanjo fondly because he handed over power willingly to Shehu Shagari -- though he had little choice, if he wanted to live and enjoy his money. Now he is back as (s)elected president, he walks a tight rope. The jury is still out, but history will be very harsh if he does not backpedal on convening a national conference to untangle some of the knots he helped put in place. We still remember Gowon for squandering an unimaginable wealth and his boys scout look, not for winning a war, keeping Nigeria one, and reigning the longest. So it is most likely that Murtala Ramat Muhammed will continue to be remembered by the brutality of his death, the romance with martyrdom, not for his regime's deeds or his military might and defeats during the war.
Postscript: Note the eerie coincidences: Murtala Muhammed and Sani Abacha were both from Kano. They had fathers who were of Kano but not from Kano. They grew up Muslims in Kano, joined the army, and became military heads of state via bloodless coups d'état. They both died in office. Killed. They were both buried in Kano. Aguiyi-Ironsi was the only other military head of state to die in office. Killed. And then this: Although General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was of Umuahia-Ibeku (Igbo) parentage he grew up with an aunt married to a Sierra Leonean. In Kano. If JTU had "Madaki" as his last name and grown up a Muslim, and Murtala had "Pam" as his last name and grown up a Christian, we would be telling a different story today. That's the "one Nigeria" for which so much blood is senselessly shed. And, according to Murtala Mohammed, "The thought of further bloodshed for whatever reason, must, I am sure, be revolting to our people." Don't you wish his blood flowed so others won't; we would have had a messiah in Murtala.  |
still remember where I was when I heard of the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed in a Mickey Mouse coup spearheaded by Lt.-Col. Buka Dimka and a gang of "Langtang Mafia" from Plateau State. It was on Friday, February 13, 1976. I was thousands of miles away, but I felt bad. I felt bad because the death of anyone distresses me; and it is against my religion for a human to kill another for any reason whatsoever. I felt bad because Murtala Muhammed ascendancy affected not my destiny but the path to it. But that's a personal matter. I still remember when I heard the above loaded eulogy: he was a soldier, like Dimka -- they both died by the gun (egbč), not sword or knife (mmŕ).