A BLACK FRIDAY FOR A FALLEN HERO: Gen Murtala Ramat Mohammed   

A BLACK FRIDAY FOR A FALLEN HERO: Gen Murtala Ramat Mohammed   

By: Balami Lazarus     

“One man with a rifle who can change the course of history, can he be found before the day of the Jackal”? That was Fredrick Forsyth, part of the blurb in his work “The Day of The Jackal”.     This is not a plot account of the novel but a brief historical remembrance of late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed who was brutally assassinated in a military coup de dat on February 13th 1976 at exactly 7: 45 am on his way to the office no by one man with a single rifle in the case of ” The Day of The Jackal” but by a gang of coupists.     

As a student of history with interest in the Nigerian History and its re- constructim. I once visited the National Museum at Onikan Lagos Island and Alagbon Junction Ikoyi close to Obanlende the very spot where General Mohammed a fine military officer gentleman was fallen by the gunfire of the coupists 46 years ago in February. Murtala will always be remembered in the guinness book of African leaders who has contributed gently tn the independence of Mozambique and Angola. His radical stand on racist apartheid regime long before !994 in South Africa cannot be ignored.     

Also Read: Truck drivers protest over illegal extortion, checkpoint,…

The General Murtala regime was short- lived July 1975- February 1976, but the quality of leadership was truly a product of achievements. Are you aware that the General was the one that hatched the idea of a new Federal Capital and inaugurated the Justice Aguda Panel which gave birth to Abuja as the present Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Head State stood against corruption and made sure corrupt public officers involved faced the law.     

This piece is not complete without correcting the historical deficit (falsehood) that has been with us for over four decades that General Murtala Ramat Mohammed the Head of State was on his to the mosque for jumat prayers, it was a total bunktm, self made diatribe with no foundation of truth in the said tragedy and narration afterward. I said this with the audacity as a Nigerian and a historian. It was an ethno- religious sentiment peddled, rumoured and spread by harbingers of liars in an attempt to distort the facts and course of history.

Take the case of Dr. Mungo Park and the River Niger. That Dr. Park discovered River Niger ? Or do you believe that Mountain Marama was discovered by one colonial European?     

Balami, a Publisher/ Columnist    08036779290.

A BLACK FRIDAY FOR A FALLEN HERO: Gen Murtala Ramat Mohammed