Talk:Murtala Mohammed

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There's nothing subjective about stating that Murtala Mohammed was a military ruler of Nigeria. Blandly stating that he was simply "Head of State" grants his rule a spurious air of legitimacy by papering over what was a naked power-grab by one self-appointed national savior from another.

It was not seen as a naked power grab, but a reaction to the postponement of the return to civilian rule, and the blatant corruption of the state governors. There was a real sense of optimism that Nigeria would return to civilian rule soon, that corruption would be seriously challenged, and that the bloating of the military & governmental services would be reduced. Bendel boy 13:06, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

It is worth noting that Murtala and all of the other military rulers before and after him were actually guilty of betraying their oaths to uphold the Nigerian constitution, which has never, in any iteration, endorsed the seizure of power by soldiers, for any reason whatsoever. It is also worth noting that Murtala's 1975 coup was by no means the first time he'd been guilty of such disregard for constitutional proprieties - he was also the ringleader of the July 1966 coup that brought Gowon to power. Abiola Lapite 16:03, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

The most questionable coup was the January 1966 coup. After that Nigeria no longer had a constitutional government. The July 1966 coup was bloody, and lead to many problem. The 1975 coup was a response to Gowon's announcement that the reversion to civilian government was on hold, and so this can be seen as Mohammed and others acting in defense of the (future) legitimate, constitutional, government. At the time the coup was fairly popular, and of low bloodshed. (Was there any?)Bendel boy 13:06, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Well, I was the one who added that he was a military ruler in the first place. It is conventional to go with terms like "head of state" or "president" over terms like "military ruler" or "dictator" in the intro, however, so that's why I changed it. But I have no sympathy for military coup leaders, so I don't have any strong objections if you want to leave it as military ruler. Everyking 18:55, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Whether he seized the office, the fact remains that he was, for a time, the Chief Executive of the country. We are not glossing over how he came into the office, but it needs mentioning. His team (him, Obasanjo, Yar'adua) was also the only one to put in place and execute an orderly transfer to a civilian government, by the way.--iFaqeer 02:01, Sep 28, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Rank

What was his rank at the time of the first coup? At other times? The man was a Brigadier at 36.--iFaqeer 01:59, Sep 28, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Dimka & Gowon

In February 1976, Murtala Muhammad was killed in an unsuccessful coup led by Colonel Bukar Dimka and officers from the middle belt; the coup appeared to be an attempt by middle-belt officers to bring back Gowon from his self-imposed exile and reinstate him as head of state. Obasanjo, a Yoruba and southerner, became head of state. Although unfavorably compared with Murtala Muhammad initially, he succeeded in many areas of his administration where the more intransigent Murtala Muhammad might have failed. Obasanjo became an adept political ruler, determined not to exacerbate north-south and Muslim-Christian schisms in the country.

It was never proven that Gowon was behind the coup, and it never made sense that Gowon would be involved. In the UK, out of the rat race, family safe, nice pension. I remember the belief that the allegations were being made more to ensure that Gowon would never want to come back - and, out of them, he lost his pension. Dimka was believed to have been driven more by Mohammed's desire to cut the size of the Nigerian military - at that time, for its GDP, only countries like North Korea spent more on the military than did Nigeria. What military threat did Benin, Cameroon, Niger or Chad really pose?Bendel boy 13:06, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ng0115)

i think the name shoudl be incorporated into the article.