Murtala Muhammed Told Me He Took Bribes; Real Reason Gowon Was Overthrown

By Gideon Njoku

In a sensational revelation, bound to shock not a few Nigerians, a retired Civil Servant, Otunba Theophilus Oluwole Akindele,  alleged that former  late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed , took bribes from contractors.

General Muhammed , revered for his famed uprightness and efforts to ‘cleanse’ the Civil Service during his short regime, along with his colleagues, overthrew former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, in a bloodless coup.

But many people saw the cleansing of the Civil Service by Muhammed  as a tragedy. They allege it marked the destruction of the once strong institution from which it has not recovered. Competent hands were retired unceremoniously during that exercise.

Akindele was the first Nigerian born Director General of Communications when Muhammed was the Commissioner for Communications. He also retained him in the position when he became the Head of State after the overthrow of Gowon, until he was sacked by Mohammed in  an exercise that saw to the sacking of hundreds of Civil Servants. Akindele says he was the last civil servant to be so sacked.

Muhammed was, himself, overthrown in a bloody coup.

In a published interview conducted by Vincent Akanmode, and published in The Punch, of February 20, 2010, but which has, suddenly, gone viral,   Akindele, also, revealed that far from the impression that Gowon was overthrown because he extended his stay in office, it was because Gowon wanted things to be done the right way.

Akindele: “The Military came, and things changed. You know that if you say no to a Military man, you are risking your life. But, my no was my no. Any paper that I could not sign, I told them that I would not sign it.

“The Federal Commissioners, who were mostly Military people, would send in a paper, and say this paper is meant for you to go through and put up a white paper accepting the conditions and so on. They are contracts actually. And when I look at them, I would say no.

“That was part of the reasons why Gowon was overthrown, because he stood by me. Murtala Muhammed was the Commissioner of Communications. He could not sack me because he was not the Head of State. He had reported me and said I should be sacked for indiscipline. And we went on and on and on.

“Gowon stood by me inspite of the fact that Murtala masterminded the coup that brought Gowon into office. Gowon was someone who would only do the right thing. He kept telling Murtala that if anything went wrong, I would be the one to answer for it.

“That was always Gowon’s stand, and that was one of the reasons why they planned the coup that unseated him. But they gave the reason that Gowon reneged on his promise to hand over power.  But it was the decision of the Supreme Military Council to shift the handover date.

He also revealed what transpired, personally, between him and Mohammed over bribe taking.

As the Commissioner for Communications, Akindele said, Murtala Muhammed rang him one day, and said he was sending a contractor to  Akindele, and he wanted  him to give the man  a contract to supply nails.

Akindele: “I said yes, Sir, I would do so. I wrote to the Controller of Stores, and said:’This man is from the Commissioner, he wants to be on the list of your Suppliers. Please, help if he meets the conditions given in awarding contracts.’

“I put it in writing. I think he got the job because the conditions were right. After about six months, the man came to me and I did not really  recognise him. He introduced himself. As I was about to apologise to him, he said no, that he was  actually given the job. He gave me an envelope and said it was just a small gift. I rejected it, and told him not to try it with me again.

“A few minutes later, Murtala rang and said, ‘ That man that I sent to you,  don’t allow him into our premises again’. I said sorry Sir, but what happened? He said ‘he came to bribe me’. I said, well, he  means well. He said, ‘Yes, I know he means well, but now, we should learn one lesson. Then, Murtala Muhammed said:

“I take bribes, but not from fellow Nigerians, but from these Europeans who came to take all our money away. I don’t even mind taking 50 per cent of their profits, but not from fellow Nigerians.’

“That was the first lesson I learnt from him.”