By Tajudeen Sowole
Four decades after the
assassination of former Head of States, General Murtala Mohammed, a memorial
exhibition and lecture in his honour have generated reflection on the worth of
selfless leadership.
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Former Nigerian High
Commissioner to Namibia, Ambassador Prince Adegboyega Christopher Ariyo (left);
D-G, NCMM, Yusuf Abdallah Usman; D-G, Centre for Black African and Arts and
Civilization (CBAAC), Ferdinand Anikwe and curator, National Museum, Onikan, Lagos,
Mrs. Edith Ekunke during the opening of a Murtala Mohammed 40th Anniversary
Exhibition.
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Held at the National Museum Onikan, Lagos, the
exhibition titled ‘Our Hero Past:
General Murtala Ramat Mohammed’ – currently showing – is a rejuvenated and
expanded version of the permanent display by Nigerian Government. Still
standing as the iconic object of the exhibition, is the Mercedes Benz car in
which the late head of state was assassinated on February 13, 1976.
For a nation currently on a journey towards
rebirth, the occasion of the 40th anniversary of General Mohammed death should
have provided for mass reflection of the people. Sadly, the period coincided
with celebration of falsehood and distortion known as Valentine’s Day, which
took attention of the people, particularly the youth from the true virtue of
leadership that the late Mohammed stood for.
While government-organised events in Lagos
and the Federal Capital territory, Abuja in honour of Mohammed were faintly
heard, the hypes about Valentine’s Day took over the newspapers and airwaves of
the Nigerian media.
However, for those who cherished the virtue
of true leadership, the 40th anniversary of General Mohammed was worth the
gathering at Onikan, a significant neigbhood where the late head of state was
assassinated. Guest Speaker at the event, Ambassador Prince Adegboyega
Christopher Ariyo, who is a former Nigerian High Commissioner to Namibia noted
how General Mohammed gave new direction to governance before he was
assassinated on February 13, 1976. Also, the daughter of the late head of
state, Mrs Aisha Mohammed Oyebode who is the Chief Executive Officer, Muritala
Mohammed Foundation explained the importance of the anniversary in Nigeria’s
potentials to greatness.
In his four and half page lecture titled The Life and Times of Late General Murtala
Muhammed: Any Lesson for Contemporary Nigeria?, Prince Ariyo, among other
commendations, argued that the late head of state gave Nigeria “the missing
leadership qualities” that the people needed. The former Ambassador added: “He
gave new dynamism to the pursuit of the essence of governance in the national
interests. Fulfillment of the spirit and letter of the social contract between
the leader and the led was given new meaning.”
Speaking on what he considered as the golden
era of Nigeria’s foreign policy, Prince Ariyo traced the nation’s achievement
to the leadership quality of Mohammed: “though geographically in West Africa,
Nigeria became a member of the frontline States of Southern Africa – Those
medling in African Affairs were told to keep away.” The former Ambassador
recaaled that a phrase Africa has come of age speech in Addis Absba “was a
clear signal that Nigeria had the resources tend her res future in dignity and
would not take any nonsense.”
The exhibition, Our Hero Past… is a
tripartite project of National Commission For Museums and Monuments (NCMM),
ikoyi-Obalende LCDA and Murtala Mohammed Foundation. From her Goodwill Message,
Mrs Oyebode listed quite a number of benefits of the 40th memorial exhibition.
Among such benefits, she said, “it allows us to celebrate the contributions of
Late General Mohammed to the project of nation building for which he was very
passionate; to highlight, once more, the very ideals eschewed by Late General Mohammed
to the project of nation building for whic and on which the Foundation is
founded.”
Earlier in his Welcome Address, the
Director-General, NCMM, Mallam Yusuf Abdallah Usman had explained that the
exhibition “is the humble attempt” of the government agency to raise awareness,
celebrate and promote the ideals for which Muhammed died “as a befitting
epitaph for the fallen patriot.”
Usman
listed among several achievements of the late head of state, the creation of
additional seven states and conception of the proposal for the movement of the
Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja. Usman recalled that the official car of Mohammed
in which he was assassinated “has been under the care and preservation of the
NCMM since the brutal murder.” He stressed that the Mercedes Benz car “has
become one of Nigeria’s priceless antiquities, and available for viewing and education
of our visitors.” Usman disclosed that
to further place Mohammed in the rightful place of Nigeria’s past heroes and
promote the ideals for which he died, “his tomb has been proposed by NCMM as a
national monument.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji
Lai Muhammed, who was represented by the Director-General, Centre for Black
African and Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Ferdinand Anikwe described the
tenure of the late head of state as having a “record that is difficult to
surpass.” The minister added that “the
exhibition is a challenge to all to rid Nigeria of corruption, nepotism and
keep the nation as one.”
Apart from the exhibition, the cenotaph of Mohammed
in Lagos Island, according to Toyin Caxton-Martins, Executive Secretary, Ikoyi-Obalende,
LCDA, Eti-0sa, , will be improved as a monument. The council boss had earlier
added her voice to the growing importance of keeping Nigeria as a major lesson
to pick from the memorial exhibition and lecture.
Also, a commemorative postage stamp in the
honour of Mohammed was launched by Nigerian postal Post during the exhibition
and lecture.
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