We called him Muri, as if he was just the big bro next door. That was how intimate our imaginary relationship with him was. Murtala Muhammed was the hero of our youth. We accepted him, warts and all. He was different. As soon as he was pronounced Head of State after the overthrow of General Gowon, the pace and texture of governance changed. In the haste to tackle corruption and leapfrog Nigeria to the high pedestal where it needed to be, mistakes were made. But there is no question about the sincerity of purpose behind the frenetic pace of the socio-political engineering.
Destiny
With hindsight, it seemed he knew he wouldn’t have a long time to superintend over the country. So, he was in a hurry to fix the fixable, locally and internationally. Those were the days when the name Nigeria meant something. We knew we were special! A trip to any of our West African neighbours would convince any doubter that Nigeria was indeed a giant. Our Naira was stronger than both the dollar and the pound sterling. Nigerians did not require a visa to visit the UK. Some Asian stores in London openly expressed their preference to be paid in Naira rather than pounds.
We were on top of our game, and we had a leader who was determined to use our international influence for the liberation of the whole of Africa. Murtala Muhammed’s historic “Africa has come of age” speech, delivered at the Organisation of African Unity summit in Addis Ababa, was the continent’s liberation manifesto. Today, 50 years after, his words still ring with compulsive stridency, which only a man of destiny like Muhammed could muster.
“Africa has come of age. It’s no longer under the orbit of any extra-continental power.
It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or to mar. For too long have we been kicked around; for too long have we been treated like adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly…”
Speaking at the conference marking the 50th anniversary of the death of General Muhammed, the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II, recalled that the late Head of State gave Nigerians dignity and pride in who they were. Sanusi decried unbridled materialism and the current fad of sharing money among indigent citizens instead of giving them an education and a conducive environment in which to thrive.
Youth
He expressed confidence in the capacity of young Nigerians to lead. Decrying the current fad of compensating corrupt loyalists with political appointments, he called for a complete moral rearmament, with emphasis on accountability and the good old virtue of integrity and protecting one’s good name.
Murtala Muhammed became Head of State at the age of 37 and served in that capacity for 200 days. Many people have looked back with fondness at his youthful dynamism and radical posture, which they attribute to the fact that he was forward-looking.
President Goodluck Jonathan spoke of the virtues of youth at the 50th anniversary event, masterfully emceed by Dr. Victor Oladokun. He looked back at some of the challenges of the office of president and suggested that, ideally, anyone aspiring to be Nigeria’s president need not be more than 50 years old.
That point was also made by Malawi’s former president, Joyce Hilda Banda, who advocated for the inclusion of women as active participants at all tiers of government. Narrating the moving story of her accidental ascendancy to power following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, she paid tribute to Nigeria’s former President Obasanjo for standing by her, literally and physically, to ensure that the usual anti-feminine sentiments standing in her way were neutralised.
Both Jonathan and Banda were convinced that if Murtala Muhammed could do it at 37, so can the young people of today. Obasanjo became Head of State at 38 following the assassination of General Muhammed, while the Chief of Army Staff, General TY Danjuma, was also 38. By contrast, most young people today are still trying to find their feet at 40. Surely, a society that has its eyes on the future cannot invest its hope solely in gerontocratic leaders?
Apples & Oranges
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, differed. He argued that society should not be bothered about the calendar age of political leaders. What mattered most, he said, was the age of their ideas. He pointed out that President Mandela, Lee Kuan Yew, and Winston Churchill were great leaders in spite of their advanced age.
Whispers within the distinguished audience rang out:
“Compare apples with apples!”
“Where is our own Lee Kuan Yew?”
“Did you say Winston Churchill? Ah!”
Only a Murtala Muhammed leadership conference could have kept such a distinguished audience enthralled for six solid hours at the ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja.
It all looks like yesteryear when, as a young journalist and writer, I had put finishing touches to a radio play I wanted to submit for consideration by the producer of Gandu Street at Radio Nigeria, Ikoyi. I first made a detour to Seinde Cole’s at Bailey Street, off King George V Street. As I set down my portable typewriter, the first set of staccato machine-gun sounds echoed in from neighbouring Obalende.
Trust Lagos. Every living thing voted with whatever remained of its feet! In no time, the streets were empty. Rumours filtered in from house to house. Oh, Brigadier So-and-So is holed up in Alhaja’s house near the Ghana Embassy on KGV. Oh, Brigadier Dumuje has been shot! And then the saddest of all revelations from wailing area boys who drifted in from Obalende: “Won ti pa Muri o!”
Lagos mourned. Just when we were getting used to shunning corruption, just when we were buying into his mantra of simplicity — no sirens, no eye service, no clearing of traffic for the big man. Murtala had obeyed traffic lights like the rest of us. His official Mercedes was often seen in traffic in Ikoyi. His killers took advantage of his simplicity. They waited for him at a traffic light near Alagbon Close. And the rest is history. Sad history!
Not for Sale
I remembered Muhammed’s “Africa has come of age” speech again recently when a good friend with an eye for the dignity of the black man asked me to check a recent claim that President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic intended to sell part of the country to American billionaire Peter Thiel for a project named “Prospera Africa.” I wondered what manner of demon would possess any president to sell part of his country in this day and age, when the descendants of the slave trade of centuries gone by are reinventing their appetite for cruelty and domination.
It turned out that the rumour was a conflation of two distinct subjects: the ambitious economic reforms of the Talon administration in Benin and Thiel’s controversial “Próspera” ZEDE (Zone for Employment and Economic Development) project currently located in Honduras. Some evil genius joined the two unrelated matters together and invented a vile rumour.
Thank God, Benin is intact. I wish I could say the same for all of Africa. May Murtala Muhammed’s spirit and memory keep a-burning in us that flame of pride, dignity, and integrity to the greater glory of our gang-raped continent.
