General Murtala Ramat Muhammad was the fourth person to assume the presidency of Nigeria, serving as head of the Federal Military Government. Although his rule lasted only 200 days (from July 1975 to February 1976), it represented a pivotal transitional period in Nigeria’s post-independence political and administrative history.
Murtala Muhammad was born into a Fulani family in Kano, northern Nigeria, on November 8, 1938. He went to school in Kano for his primary education and then went to Barewa College Zaria, which was the school that trained most of the military and political leaders in northern Nigeria at the time.
In 1958, he joined the Nigerian Army and started his military training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. This was the normal way for Commonwealth officers to do it back then. After specialising in the Signal Corps, he went back to Nigeria in 1962 as a Second Lieutenant. His first job in the field was with the United Nations peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Leopoldville), where he learned how to deal with military problems in unstable situations.
Nigeria’s first democratic system fell apart in 1966, and Murtala Mohammed was involved in the military coups that followed. A group of young army officers, including Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, an Igbo officer, led the coup in January 1966. This coup led to the deaths of important northern leaders, such as Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Murtala Mohammed was against this coup because he saw it as an attack on the interests of the north.
Murtala Mohammed was one of the main people behind the coup in July 1966 that overthrew General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. Some writers think that he first wanted the north to leave Nigeria (Araba), but pressure from within and from other countries made him agree to keep the federal union going with Yakubu Gowon in charge.
Murtala Mohammed was in charge of the 2nd Infantry Division during the Nigerian Civil War (Biafra War). His leadership during this time was marked by military decisiveness and mixed results. He tried to cross the Niger River to take the important city of Onitsha. His first two tries failed, costing his troops a lot of people and things, but he was able to do it on the third try by taking a different route overland.
One of the most controversial parts of his military career was when he was in charge of the 2nd Division. Some historical accounts and survivor testimonies say that he was in charge of the killings of civilians in Asaba after it was taken back from Biafra forces.
Once the war was over in 1970, he went back to work in the Signal Corps and quickly rose to the rank of Brigadier General. In 1974, he was named Commissioner (Minister) of Communications, a job he did while still serving in the military.
On July 29, 1975, a group of officers staged a bloodless coup that overthrew President Yakubu Gowon while he was in Kampala for the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit. The Supreme Military Council agreed to make Murtala Mohammed the head of state.
Mohammed restructured the government to be more collective, sharing power with his Chief of Staff, Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Theophilus Danjuma. His administration adopted a swift and decisive approach to decision-making, known locally as the “with immediate effect” style. He launched a widespread campaign against corruption and bureaucracy. More than 10,000 civil servants were dismissed or forced into early retirement on the grounds of corruption, incompetence, or age.
To reduce separatist tendencies and distribute development more equitably, Mohammed increased the number of Nigerian states from 12 to 19 in February 1976. This decision was a response to the demands of smaller ethnic groups who felt marginalised within the larger states.
Mohammed made the historic decision to move the federal capital from Lagos (which suffered from overpopulation, traffic congestion, and a peripheral geographical location) to a central, neutral location. The committee that recommended Abuja chose it because of its central location and its lack of affiliation with any of the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba).
Mohammed’s rule represented a radical shift in Nigerian foreign policy, from traditional Western orientation to Afrocentrism. The most significant challenge was the civil war in Angola. While the United States and Britain supported UNITA and FNLA, Mohammed decided to recognise the Soviet-backed MPLA, considering it the only movement resisting South African intervention (the apartheid regime).
At the Organisation of African Unity summit in January 1976, he delivered a famous speech, “Africa Has Come of Age”, in which he asserted that Africa no longer needed the tutelage of the great powers and that Nigeria would use its oil wealth to support national liberation movements on the continent.
On the morning of February 13, 1976, Murtala Mohammed was assassinated in his car while travelling to his office in Ikoyi, Lagos. His motorcade lacked heavy security, in keeping with his policy of maintaining a low profile.
The coup attempt was led by Lieutenant Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka, who accused Mohammed’s administration of leftist leanings and deviating from the traditional military line. The coup failed to seize power, and those involved were later executed. Mohammed’s deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, assumed power, pledging to complete the return to civilian rule.
Opinions on Mohammed’s rule fall into two main schools of thought:
- The Reformist Perspective: This view sees him as a decisive leader who, in a short period, instilled administrative discipline, laid out a roadmap for the return to democracy (achieved in 1979), and gave Nigeria diplomatic weight as a regional power.
- The Critical Perspective: This perspective suggests that his approach of “instant purges” weakened government institutions and created a culture of fear and improvisation in administration. Also, the abuses committed during the civil war under his leadership remain a dark stain on his record for large segments of eastern Nigeria.
Mohammed’s image remains present in the Nigerian collective memory through several landmarks. The main airport in Lagos, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, is named after him. His image was featured on the 20 Naira note, the first Nigerian currency to bear the image of a national figure. Many main roads and educational institutions across Nigeria bear his name.
