In a moment etched in Nigeria’s military and political history, Lt. General Olusegun Obasanjo, Colonel Muhammadu Buhari, and Colonel Shehu Musa Yar’Adua were captured solemnly praying at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Dodan Barracks for the repose of the late Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed.
The prayer followed the shocking assassination of General Murtala on Friday, February 13, 1976, in Lagos during a failed coup led by Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka. Also killed in the ambush was Murtala’s aide-de-camp, Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa, who was Nigeria’s first ADC to a Head of State and one of the youngest army officers in that role.
The same day, Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo, the Military Governor of Kwara State and a close ally of the late Murtala, was also murdered in Ilorin as the coup attempt unfolded across several parts of the country.
The historic image of the three top military officers — Obasanjo, Buhari, and Yar’Adua — in silent prayer would later come to symbolize not just their reverence for a fallen leader, but also a pivotal transition in Nigeria’s political leadership. Obasanjo, then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, assumed the position of Head of State shortly after the failed coup, while Yar’Adua became his deputy. Buhari, who was then serving as Military Governor of the North-Eastern State, would go on to play key roles in future military governments.
General Murtala Mohammed, admired for his bold reforms and anti-corruption stance, ruled Nigeria for barely 200 days before his assassination, but remains one of the most revered leaders in the country’s history.
