Nigerian Past Leaders and Their Achievements (Series Eight) General Murtala Ramat Mohammed General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, an army general, Head of state and first national hero, was born 8th November, 1938 in the Kurawa Quarters of Kano City. He schooled in Gidan Makama Primary School and finished up at Government (now Barewa) College, Zaria in 1957. General Mohammed enlisted into the Nigerian Army and was sent to Britain for training at Sandhurst Royal Academy as an Officer Cadet. His other advanced training courses and successes paved way for his rapid promotions in the rank and file of the Nigerian Army. Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 1961, and became a lieutenant seven months later. In 1962, he was drafted to Congo as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Upon returning to Nigeria, he served as the aide-de-camp (ADC) to Dr. Koyejo Majekodunmi, the Western Region Administrator put in place following the declaration of a State of Emergency. He was later appointed the Officer-in-Chief, First Brigade Signal Troops, Kaduna after which he proceeded again to Catterick School of Signals for an advanced course in telecommunications. Twenty eight months after he was commissioned, he was promoted and became a captain and appointed to oversee a signals unit at the Brigade Headquarters, Kaduna. During the civic war in 1967, he was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army 2nd Division. It was his division that routed forces of the Biafran Army and expelled them from the Midwest Region, and from there he moved up to cross the River Niger to join the 1st Division which was on its way to Enugu City and Nsukka. After a years course at Joint Services Staff College in England, he took his first political appointment as Commissioner for Communications in 1974 which he combined with his military duties. On July 30, 1975, Brigadier (later General) Muhammed was made head of state, when General Gowon was overthrown while at an Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Kampala, Uganda. Brigadiers Obasanjo (later Lt.General) and Danjuma (later Lt.General) were appointed as Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ and Chief of Army Staff, respectively. One of his first acts was to scrap the 1973 census and to revert to the 1963 count for official purposes. Murtala Muhammad removed top federal and state officials to break links with the Gowon regime and to restore public confidence in the federal government. More than 10,000 public officials and employees were dismissed without benefits, on account of age, health, incompetence, or malpractice. Some officials were brought to trial on charges of corruption. He also began the demobilization of 100,000 troops from the swollen ranks of the armed forces. Twelve of the 25 ministerial posts on the new Federal Executive Council went to civilians, but the cabinet was secondary to the executive Supreme Military Council. The federal government took over the operation of the countrys two largest newspapers, made broadcasting a federal monopoly, and brought remaining state-run universities under federal control. Murtala Muhammad initiated a comprehensive review of the Third National Development Plan. Singling out inflation as the greatest danger to the economy, he was determined to reduce the money supply that had been swollen by government expenditures on public works. Muhammad also announced that his government would encourage the rapid expansion of the private sector into areas dominated by public corporations. Murtala Muhammed was killed, aged 37, along with his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Akintunde Akinsehinwa, on February 13, 1976 in an abortive coup attempt led by Lt. Col Buka Suka Dimka, when his car was ambushed while en route to his office at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. In the short span of 201 days in office before he was assassinated, General Mohammeds dynamic administration gave this country a new sense of direction, duty and patriotism. Today, his portrait adorns the 20 Naira note and he stands one of the national heroes of the Nigerian Republic. Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos is named in his honour. Keep Tabs On This Trend By This Time Tomorrow For the Next Series
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 18:01:13 +0000