By Bayo Davids
Ex-Head of the Nigerian military government, General Yakubu Gowon has counselled leaders to be wary of acting on every rumour concerning their lives and destiny, noting that before his government fell, he knew one of his subordinates, General Murtala Muhammed was plotting to take him out.
In the opening chapter of his autobiography, “My Life of Duty and Allegiance,” the Plateau-born, Sandhurst-trained officer writes, “Any leader who lives in fear and acts on every rumour of plots to remove or her from office will never accomplish anything. On the contrary, he will only succeed in turning himself into a prisoner of sorts, if not to wily and self-serving advisers, then, to security operatives or legions of ‘prophets’ and ‘marabouts’ who would always have information to feed his fears.”
Apart from General Murtala who would later succeed him, Gowon named Col. Joseph Nanven Garba (Commander of Federal Guards Unit) and Col. Anthony Ochefu (Provost Marshall of the Nigerian Military Police) as two principal elements in the plot.
On Murtala, he writes, “Once or twice in the past, his name had also been mentioned in relation to plots against me before the civil war broke out. Even after the war, his name recurred over irregular expenditures in the accounts of the Army ‘s Signal Corps. I was not particularly disturbed because I had always known him to be an intelligent but temperamental, contentious and highly impulsive individual since our time at Barewa College in Zaria, where he was my junior in the early 1950s. With those traits, anyone could easily fit into any narrative that could imperil his life and career.”
Gowon further described Murtala’s life at Zaria as one fraught with constant brawls with fellow students especially Hamza Zayyad who would later became the Chairman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
When the news of the coup that eventually ousted him first reached him, Gowon says he counselled Murtala in these words: “Look young man, this is what I have heard and I can assure you that if it is the will of God that you will make it, there is nothing I can do about it. But something would have to happen for you to be there. With me, you can get away with it, but with other people, you may get into serious trouble. For God’s sake, just go back to your work and continue to work normally.”
A few weeks later while Gowon was attending the 12 Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Kampala, Uganda, Murtala and his boys struck, ending the then military government “With immediate effect.”
Arriving the summit a bit late, Gowon had no knowledge of the fate that had befallen him back home. It was his host, Field Marshall Idi Amin who showed him Reuters Report, announcing a new regime in Lagos with his Commissioner of Communications, General Murtala Muhammed the new sheriff in Dodan Barracks.