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Aisha Muhammed links her father’s assassination to his modest lifestyle and strict anti-corruption stance
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General Muhammed avoided motorcades, sirens, and heavy security, living like an ordinary Nigerian
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Simplicity and principled leadership made him vulnerable to coup plotters in 1976
Aisha Muhammed, daughter of the late Nigerian Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, has disclosed that her father’s simple lifestyle and unwavering leadership principles contributed to his assassination.
Speaking on Monday on ARISE News’ Morning Show, as Nigeria marked 50 years since the late leader’s death, Aisha reflected on her father’s values, describing him as a leader who practised what he preached.
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According to her, General Muhammed was deeply committed to accountability, responsibility, and discipline, viewing corruption as a serious threat to national development.
“I think his leadership style was clear. He led with clarity. He believed in accountability. He believed in responsibility,” she said, noting that he lived an anti-corruption life and saw corruption as a “cankerworm” capable of destroying the nation.
She added, “Corruption was not something he just talked about… 50 years later, look at what has happened.”
Aisha explained that her father intentionally avoided the trappings of power, refusing long motorcades, blaring sirens, or heavy security, preferring to live like the average Nigerian.
“My father didn’t go around with motorcades and sirens or a lot of security. That was who he was,” she said.
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This simplicity, she noted, made it easier for coup plotters to assassinate him on February 13, 1976.
“That was why it was actually easy to assassinate him. He didn’t have a whole slew of security with him. He was in traffic like everybody else,” she recounted, adding that he was stopped by traffic wardens just before the attack.
General Muhammed came to power through a bloodless coup in July 1975 that removed General Yakubu Gowon but was killed barely six months later during a failed coup.
Despite his brief 200-day rule, he is remembered for far-reaching reforms, including the dismissal of over 10,000 public officials for corruption, the creation of seven new states, and laying the groundwork for Nigeria’s transition to civilian rule.
His administration also initiated plans to relocate the nation’s capital from Lagos to Abuja, a project that continues to shape Nigeria’s governance landscape.
