Bolaji Akinyemi: Murtala Muhammed Brought Out the Pride in Nigeria

Dike Onwuamaeze

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has declared that the country’s late military head of state, General Murtala Muhammed, inspired a deep sense of accomplishment and national self-esteem in Nigeria with his radical foreign policy.

Akinyemi made the declaration yesterday at Nigerian Institute of Foreign Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, during a Strategic Policy Workshop, with the theme, “Has Africa Come of Age? Murtala Muhammed’s Pan-African Vision 50 Years After.”

The policy workshop was put together by Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) and NIIA to honour the 50th anniversary of the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed.

Speaking on Muhammed’s impactful radical foreign policy posture that reverberated across Africa and beyond, Akinyemi said, “There was a time when we had in this country a head of state that brought out the pride in Nigeria.”

He added, “Nigerians knew what he stood for. Muhammed was not a head of state that avoided taking his stand on issues. And Nigerians knew what was expected of them.”

Akinyemi, who served as the first Director-General of NIIA during Muhammed’s regime, also used the occasion to clarify the question of whether he was the person that wrote the famous speech that Muhammed read at the General Assembly meeting of Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1976.

He said, “Till today, there is still a debate on who wrote that speech. Ambassador Olu Adeniji (of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) wrote it.

“People do not believe that it was not written by me. The speech was so radical that people did not believe that it could have come from the ministry.”

According to him, General Olusegun Obasanjo was meant to lead the Nigerian delegation to the OAU’s conference as Muhammed’s second-in-command.

However, Muhammed changed his mind, when the draft of the speech came out and accepted to deliver it himself.

Akinyemi said, “Before that script was written the decision has been taken that General Obasanjo will lead the delegation to the OAU meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“But General Muhammed loved the draft so much that he decided that he will lead the delegation and will deliver the speech.

“When it has the imprimatur of the head of state it will carry more weight before the other heads of state that were there.

“The speech was like declaring ‘this is where I am taking Nigeria and I am not going to be afraid of anybody.’

“I emphasised this because it resonated in the hall. Before that speech Nigeria wanted government of national unity for Angola’s independence.

“People were confused when in conclusion he declared support for NPLA. It was like he threw a bomb inside that hall. I was there. Not that I was told.

“At the end of that conference we have succeed in moving the OAU to a radical decision of supporting the NPLA. It did not please the United States of America.

“But I am sure that they developed an understanding and respect for General Murtala Muhammed.”

Chief Executive Officer of MMF, Dr. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, the daughter of General Muhammed, said her father was being remembered today as a bold Pan Africanist.

Muhammed-Oyebode said regarding her father, “He articulated a very strategic foreign policy that gave Nigeria its expected place in international relations.

“He challenged apartheid and defended African countries on the global stage.

“His proclamation that Africa has come of age remained a rallying cry for African unity and independent in international affairs.”

She explained that MMF was established in his father’s honour and was dedicated to preserving his legacy and advancing his values of leadership, justice and service.

“The objective is to honour the 50th anniversary of General Murtala Muhammed’s assassination by reflecting on his fearless advocacy for African liberation; revisit Nigeria’s foreign policy under his leadership and assess the influence of his bold stand on Africa collective diplomacy,” Muhammed-Oyebode said.

In his welcome address, Director-General of NIIA, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, said when Muhammed declared that Africa had come of age, he was saying to the world, “Do not think that Africa is an appendage anymore. Do not think Africa is a copycat. Do not think Africa is going to be drawn by the nose to join what Africa has not determined for itself.

“His saying that Africa has come of age was actually to put a stamp on the meaning of strategic autonomy. That is to say that Africa has become its own voice and its own master.

“It is saying that Africa must follow tracks and tractions that are determined by Africa for Africans.”