Owing to well documented evidence of genocidal exploits before and during the Nigerian civil war, Murtala Muhammed should not be celebrated as a Nigerian icon. I say this on the belief and assumption that Nigeria abhors, repudiates and rejects extremist and genocidal strategies to solving Nigerian problems.

In civilized countries, the worst crime is one perpetrated against fellow citizens. If Biafra has seceded successfully, then Nigeria reserves the right to iconize and lionize any leaders she wants. 

As long as we remain one country, Ndigbo would remain insulted by the iconization and celebration of known genocidists such as Murtala Muhammad. Such characters must be consigned to their proper places in history.

I'll like to add a poll here.

For what ?

In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was hanged by his people for committing genocide against fellow Iraqis.

In Nigeria, we name our busiest international airport (and gateway) after a well documented genocidist and murderer of his fellow citizens. We even throw in an icing by adding his picture and name to our most used currency denomination.

I believe that all decent humans must be appalled by these thoughtless acts.

Can anyone even tell me what this man did for Nigeria to make it easy to forget these heinous crimes against humanity?

I shudder.

Nigerian leaders will never do that, they don't care about people or justice. They only care about their Padi Padi interests and family.

The same elites running Nigeria today are friends, colleagues, family and acquitances of the past Nigerian looters, dictators, coup plotters, arm merchants and murderers.

They will do nothing to right past wrongs until people are ready to demand justice en-masse. Unfortunately we are not ready yet. That is the reality.

If anybody is to be tried for genocide,it should be ojuku;the real masterminder of the genocide.the hitler of nigeria.

Posted by: okada_man

Nigerian leaders will never do that, they don't care about people or justice. They only care about their Padi Padi interests and family.

The same elites running Nigeria today are friends, colleagues, family and acquitances of the past Nigerian looters, dictators, coup plotters, arm merchants and murderers.

They will do nothing to right past wrongs until people are ready to demand justice en-masse. Unfortunately we are not ready yet. That is the reality.

Yes, you are right to some extent, but remember the "Supreme Soviet"?
When the day of justice came, everybody started running to his own home.
A character like Joseph Stalin has no airport named after him, not to talk of an international airport.

An evil pall hangs over the Nigerian nation until people like Murtala Muhammad are consigned to the history of ill fame and repudiation.

The Nigerian national question remain unanswered, that is why we have Boko Haram. Part of the process of founding a nation is to define ethos and values. If people do not share ethos and values, they have no business being together in one country. I recon that some sections of Nigeria may approve of Murtala's methods and exploits during the war, but we don't have to be in one country if that remains the case. In fact I strongly believe that the wider the spread of this poll, the better the proof that Nigeria cannot be one nation. I believe in my heart that every human being would not like to be visited with a genocide. The question then becomes, why should anyone approve this genocider? It can only mean that the approver sees the victim as an "Other".

Should Murtala Muhammad be celebrated by decent and fair minded humans? That is the question.

And this is the point I leave the thread for now.

Signing off,
Yours truly,

Onlytruth.

@POSTER, as easy as it may be. Pls jst stop using 20naira notes & stop using d MM airport. Better still, gather ur family & villagers & give them d advice. Only then we d govt will care about you.

They should rename the airport Herbert Macaulay Airport.

Onlytruth

I agree with you on this one, but if it is done,

1.) would massob stop existing

2.) would igbo stop putting eze ndigbo in every state

3.) would they stop complaining about marginalization

4.) Would they stop screaming biafra at our face (very important)

if so then I completely agree

@Ezeuche
I support that the airport be renamed "Herbert Macaulay International Aiirport". Herbert Macaulay has been the most uncelebrated past leader. He has done a lot for this country. I don't know why the FG does not remember him.

yes, all this fluff will bring development to nigeria.

afam4eva:

@Ezeuche
I support that the airport be renamed "Herbert Macaulay International Aiirport". Herbert Macaulay has been the most uncelebrated past leader. He has done a lot for this country. I don't know why the FG does not remember him.

Herbert Macaulay is the man!

alj_harem:

Onlytruth

I agree with you on this one, but if it is done,

1.) would massob stop existing

2.) would igbo stop putting eze ndigbo in every state

3.) would they stop complaining about marginalization

4.) Would they stop screaming biafra at our face (very important)

if so then I completely agree

Changing the name does not and will not stop us from shouting and screaming BIAFRA to your COW FACE until we have our BIAFRA

Long live the LAND OF THE RISING SUN.

For the international airport in Lagos, I think that "Herbert Macaulay International Airport" is just perfect.

As for the N20 note, I think Murtala's picture should be replaced with a memorial pictorial representation dedicated to the memories of those massacred by Murtala Muhammed.

I really think that this is important because it would define what is acceptable to all humans living in the Nigerian space.
If that is not done, I fear that any future conflict in that space would make second war world look like children's war game.

@Ezeuche,

Nna ebee ka igara kamgbe nwanne? Amakwa m na udo diri gi na ezi n'uno gi? I gara njem?
Nno, ezi nwanne m.

Gani's face should be there instead of Murtala's. I'm sure one day though, Nigerians will begin to wake up and right historical wrongs.

--off topic--
Also, we need to view the current boko haram problems in the light of Balewa's speech to dip the Koran in the Atlantic, to remove Balewa's pic as well.

for Nigerians that think that ojukwu killed his people that he should face trail for genocide well i can see that you are as wicked like your satanic people.
this video is about real story about BIAFRA how BIAFRANS live a good and peaceful live and plus Nigerian propaganda at the war,thanks God with internet and the new technology which a lot of backward leaders and their followers never believe that the truth will forever surface in this earth.This videos shows how igbos were determine during the war everybody was in the mood to end injustice/genocide  killings in Nigeria, igbos/biafrans want out people like traders women and children want out from Nigeria their was brother hood among igbos   they were helping each other etc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzZeiORdSew


land of thy rising sun we love and cherished

Onlytruth:

In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was hanged by his people for committing genocide against fellow Iraqis.

In Nigeria, we name our busiest international airport (and gateway) after a well documented genocidist and murderer of his fellow citizens. We even throw in an icing by adding his picture and name to our most used currency denomination.

I am afraid your analogy does not hold here. The issue of who is celebrated as a national hero and who is vilified, indicted and punished for war crimes in reality boils down to the question of who is the victor and who is the vanquished at the end of an armed conflict.

Do you know how much the name 'Saddam' had dominated every single aspect of the Iraqi national life before his Baath government was ousted by the US-led coalition forces? Do you know how his pictures had adorned pages of almost every textbook in the country? Or how his statues had littered every corner of almost all the cities of the country?  

Was it not only AFTER Saddam was vanquished that everything about his legacies was removed, and the dictator himself was eventually captured and executed?

Were Murtala and those who fought on the Nigerian side so defeated as Saddam? If not, it would be naive to have expected them to suffer similar fate - of having their names and faces removed from public places?

No doubt MM doesnt deserve a honourable place in our history but that completely depends on the side one chooses to look from as he's seen as a war hero and his crimes are conveniently shielded as they were done 'in the interest of the nation' just like those commited by his military contemporaries, massacre or no massacre, afterall the perpetrators of the Asaba massacre justified their action and bluntly refused to apologise during the Oputa panel and I'm yet to see them take to the stands in the Hague.
Truth is we buried a whole load of things at the end of the war and opening them up will do no one no good. Crimes were commited on both sides In varying degrees and you cant open one and leave the others cos it suits you. Some of us ended up as victims of a war we knew nothing about but we chose to forget cos it was the only way to heal our mostly self inflicted wounds and Like Shakespeare said;
'To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is a sure way to draw new mischief on' Let sleeping dogs lie.

His govt also actively and consciously sidelined the entire South East, he sort of started the exclusion of Igbo's from the inner circle as evidenced by his choice of SMC and GOC's. He blew the first real chance of consumating Gowon's reconciliation venture and from then on it became National policy.

wesley80:

No doubt MM doesnt deserve a honourable place in our history but that completely depends on the side one chooses to look from as he's seen as a war hero and his crimes are conveniently shielded as they were done 'in the interest of the nation' just like those commited by his military contemporaries, massacre or no massacre, afterall the perpetrators of the Asaba massacre justified their action and bluntly refused to apologise during the Oputa panel and I'm yet to see them take to the stands in the Hague.
Truth is we buried a whole load of things at the end of the war and opening them up will do no one no good. Crimes were commited on both sides In varying degrees and you cant open one and leave the others cos it suits you. Some of us ended up as victims of a war we knew nothing about but we chose to forget cos it was the only way to heal our mostly self inflicted wounds and Like Shakespeare said;
'To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is a sure way to draw new mischief on' Let sleeping dogs lie.

the best post so far

Posted by: wesley80

No doubt MM doesnt deserve a honourable place in our history but that completely depends on the side one chooses to look from as he's seen as a war hero and his crimes are conveniently shielded as they were done 'in the interest of the nation' just like those commited by his military contemporaries, massacre or no massacre, afterall the perpetrators of the Asaba massacre justified their action and bluntly refused to apologise during the Oputa panel and I'm yet to see them take to the stands in the Hague.
Truth is we buried a whole load of things at the end of the war and opening them up will do no one no good. Crimes were commited on both sides In varying degrees and you cant open one and leave the others cos it suits you. Some of us ended up as victims of a war we knew nothing about but we chose to forget cos it was the only way to heal our mostly self inflicted wounds and Like Shakespeare said;
'To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is a sure way to draw new mischief on' Let sleeping dogs lie.

The bolded is part of Nigeria's problem - to lionize one devil and vilify others. It is based on the concept of inequality. Like I've said already, had Biafra successfully seceded, then Nigeria can iconize any of her so called war heroes including genociders. The war ended on a no-victor-no-vanquished basis, at least that is the official position of he federal government. I wonder what qualifies Murtala to be on the Naira, but not say Gowon. Yes, I agree that we should not punish one genocider and free the other; but my guess is that there are FAR MORE genociders on the federal side. However, I really think that the issue is that the boldest of them has his name on the most used Naira denomination, and the nation's premier gateway. If Russia was to be a country of the same class and measure as Nigeria, Joseph Stalin would have his name on the premier gateway in Moscow and Russian Ruble. Stalin saved the Soviet Union from Hitlers Germany, but he did so killing millions of his fellow Russians.

I feel particularly sad when educated Nigerians reason like semi-literate characters like Murtala Muhammad.
Like I also said before, my fear is that a worse genocide can still happen in Nigeria in the future if we don't collectively repudiate and denounce such Hobbessian culture. Time can never amend such wrong. If anything, it can mask them and  prepare the next. Only deliberate human action can amend such wrong.

It is also important to understand that when Nigerians say "let the sleeping dog lie", they are really being dishonest and irresponsible.
Pray, has anybody slept properly since 1970 in Nigeria?
Hasn't the country been battling one violent reaction or another from 1970 till date. First, it was the coups and counter-coups, which brought in various military regimes which pillaged the national coffers and killed many Nigerians as a result.
Next, the constant riots and massacres in Northern Nigeria which continue till date. Then there is the militancy which is springing up in many parts of the country.
While we are letting the sleeping dog lie, unarmed demonstrators are gunned down by trigger happy security personnel, while armed groups are given amnesty, which encourages previously unarmed groups to think about arming up.

The truth is that we are not letting any sleeping dog lie. We are sweeping the dogs and their sleeping mats under the carpet till a day they become monsters threatening to consume the nation itself.
It is never too late to repudiate evil and reject genocide.
He who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind.

Our barest minimum is to begin by ridding the Nigerian public domain of offensive legacies. Murtala's legacy is offensive to the spirit of one Nigeria. It should be removed from public spaces.

Posted by: alj_harem

Onlytruth

I agree with you on this one, but if it is done,

1.) would massob stop existing

2.) would igbo stop putting eze ndigbo in every state

3.) would they stop complaining about marginalization

4.) Would they stop screaming biafra at our face (very important)

if so then I completely agree

If you support this measure, then good. Go and tell your brother ndu_chucks to support it.
If you accept that genocide is wrong, why attach a condition to it? Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of speech; so you cannot force people to drop their views on Biafra. Personally, I believe that by Nigeria condemning and repudiating genocide and taking some serious steps to change course, some of those Biafran agitators may be wooed over to the idea of one Nigeria. But if this is not done, then you have already lost them.

As usual, you've allowed your emotions and ultradefensive stance as well as your arrogated responsibility to your ethnic group to cloud your judgement. MM is not celebrated today as a hero because of his war 'heroics', There are no celebrated heroes of the civil war in Nigeria today because we all accepted the episode as unfortunate and buried most of the details in the spirit of national reconciliation. If we were to pick national icons based on the war, the likes of Black scorpion would have monuments in their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.n their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.

wesley80:

As usual, you've allowed your emotions and ultradefensive stance as well as your arrogated responsibility to your ethnic group to cloud your judgement. MM is not celebrated today as a hero because of his war 'heroics', There are no celebrated heroes of the civil war in Nigeria today because we all accepted the episode as unfortunate and buried most of the details in the spirit of national reconciliation. If we were to pick national icons based on the war, the likes of Black scorpion would have monuments in their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.n their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.

BLACK SCORPION - A MAN WITH A CURSED GENERATIONS - IF PROVIDENCE WILL GIVE HIM ANY. MAY EVIL DEATH VISIT HIM AND HIS GENERATIONS BORN AND YET UNBORN - AMEN!

htajz:

heard he was behind the asaba massacre of civilians during the civil war and his non compliment to orders also let to the ambush and massacre of nigerian soldiers in abagana too.

op i agree with you on this one.

I LOVED SEEING THE BURNT REMNANT OF NIGERIAN ARMY ARMORED TANKS AND VEHICLES WHENEVER AM PASSING THRU ABAGANA BACK THEN BEFORE IT WAS CLEARED AWAY IN THE EARLY 90S - IT ALWAYS GIVE ME PRIDE THAT WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WE STILL DEALT WITH THEM - EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY ONCE!

^^^ @comment on Black Scorpion, LOL, Such was the terror of the man.

Seun:

Murtala Muhammad was a good guy, according to some history books I researched during the last election.  In 1966, Murtala Muhammad actually ordered his underlings (including General B) to stop killing Igbo soldiers when he arrived on scene.  I don't think the same man would order a massacre later.

Can you back up your claims with proof?

A nation were tyrants are celebrated and honored in the name national reconciliation. If Nigerians are truthful about it then why try to erase the name Biafra? Bight of Bonny as we all know was before the end of the war Bight of Biafra and have always been Bight of Biafra so why change it to Bonny? They are busy sweeping issues under the rug instead of curing it. Shameless set of humans.

@OnlyTruth, problem is that Ndi-Igbo and Easterners are a bit too forgiving and also forgetful of their history? U think if were the Jews that Adekunle, Gowon, Danjuma and the men responsible for Asaba massacre will be safe and free in Nigeria? They would have sent out assassins to have these men killed quietly one by one. Atleast that would be some form of justice for the victims.

wesley80:

MM is not celebrated today as a hero because of his war 'heroics', There are no celebrated heroes of the civil war in Nigeria today because we all accepted the episode as unfortunate and buried most of the details in the spirit of national reconciliation. If we were to pick national icons based on the war, the likes of Black scorpion would have monuments in their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.n their names and 'Ojukwu' would be a slur! Quit the mischief.

Excellent points!

If I may add, Murtala is regarded as a hero because of the achievements, real or perceived, of his short-lived administration; these include a serious, determined and demonstrably committed effort to fight corruption, and a very assertive, pan-Africanist foreign policy that provided a practical, purposeful leadership the continent was badly yearning for at that time.

In the six months of that administration, Nigeria led the rest of Africa in a dual-tracked struggle for independence for the remaining African countries, and against the menacing forces of neo-colonialism that were targeting the newly independent African states.

As you have rightly pointed out, both sides in that avoidable fratricidal armed conflict might have committed war crimes; I personally believe that most of the alleged cases of war crimes might have been committed by the Nigerian side against innocent Biafran civilians, including children and women; this was simply because they were taking the war to the Biafrans and they were using such overwhelming, arguably disproportionate, force.

However, it was in recognition of these realities of the war, and in a drive for national reconciliation, as you also rightly pointed out, that the so-called policy of no-winner, no-vanquished was introduced.

And as per the letter and spirit of that policy, there was no single military officer from the Nigerian side that was celebrated as a national hero purely on accounts of his war heroics.

Thus, if Murtala had not subsequently become a head of state; if he had not shown such a great vision; if his government had not demonstrated such a purposeful, responsible and committed leadership that earned him so much acclaim in Nigeria and across the African continent, if all these had not been the case, the country's biggest airport would not have  been named after him, talk less of 'seeing his face' on any of our currency notes.

In fact, it can be argued that if Murtala's administration had been allowed to stay longer, it might have ended up manifesting all the typical leadership deficiencies and short-comings of an African government, and thus Murtala would have ended up as an Abacha, or an IBB!

And it can even be argued that the extraordinarily shocking corollary effect of assassinating a serving head of the government of a country is in itself capable of garnering huge, widespread, non-partisan national sympathy for the assassinated leader; to some extent, that too could have contributed to celebrating Murtala as a national hero.

Thus IMHO, so long as nothing new happens that could drastically change all or some of the above possible reasons for 'lionizing' Murtala, so long would he remain a national hero, and so long would his name and 'face' continue to be so immortalized.