Mrs. Aisha Oyebode, 52, lawyer and financial consultant, is the eldest child of late Nigeria Head of State, Gen Murtala Ramat Muhammed, who was assasinated on February 13, 1976 in an aborted coup. In this interview, as the CEO of Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) she narrates how her father’s death created hardship for her and her four other siblings, thereby making them passed through certain avoidable discomforts, especially their education. She also talked about her brother’s murder and how the case couldn’t see the light of day. She spoke to also CHARLES ADEGBITE.
Excerpts:
Briefly, talk about yourself, especially for the benefit of those encountering you the first time.
Well, I’m Mrs. Aisha Oyebode, the first daughter and eldest child of Late Gen. Murtala Ramat Muhammed. I studied Public International Law at the Kings College, University of London where I bagged Masters degree in Law (LLM). I also have MBA (Master of Business Administration) in Finance from the same (Imperial College) University of London. So, I’m a lawyer and Financial Consultant. I’m the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Murtala Muhammed Foundation. Actually, one of my specialisation is International Law of Armed Conflicts and the Use of Force.
How did you receive the news of your father’s assassination on that February 13, 1976?
You know, it happened on Friday, but we did not know until Sunday, February 15, because they kept the news away from us. So we were not aware until Sunday when we went to Kano. It was that day that our grandmother disclosed that our father had died. I had my suspicions because, on Saturday evening, I saw some newspapers headlines that made us know something had happened but we did not known the extent to which the something that happened was. And because our mother had travelled, it did not make it easier for them to keep the news away from us to be able to inquire and get details.
It is surprising that it took almost three days for you to know of it, you didn’t have access to radio, and those who had couldn’t break it to you?
What actually happened was that, I was already at Queens College at that time, the Head Teacher at that time came to our school and picked us very early and she took us to her home. We didn’t even have much access to radio. I remembered hearing marshal music briefly which she quickly tuned off. But they just kept us busy so that we didn’t really know what was going on. Then the next thing, we went to our uncle’s house. And when we got there we saw people crying. But they were saying no one could confirm. It was on Sunday when we got to Kano that my grandmother then confirmed.
How did you feel when you heard about it?
I was really devastated. I was really close to my father and it made me to be completely devastated.
About how old were you then?
I was 12 years old.
Was there any premonition on the part of your mother or warning from any quarter prior to the ugly event?
I don’t think she had any premonition. But I can remember that the day he became Head of State she was as sad as the day he was murder because I can remember we in Kano, visiting. I remember she was really crying. And I asked her why she was in that condition and she said to me “your father had just been announced the Head of State”. And she said “I am afraid”
I remember she could not call anybody that day to show any sign that she was elated or so. It was actually a sad day for her. If she had any premonition at all I think it was from that day.
What do you think could have put her in that mood? Could it have been the political situation in the country then, or consideration of past challenges the country had faced, ten years prior?
Yes! Because we had heard of coups and counter-coups in the past. She was never really that comfortable from that time.
Forty years after, what ways would you say your father’s name and legacies have helped you?
Well I’ve seen a lot of people who have told me they were proud of my father. Some will say they have never heard any bad thing being said about your father. Or people telling me they have actually read all the books written about my father. All these just keep humbling me.
You are the firstborn. How many siblings do you have?
Five. We are all six in number.
Since you were 12 years old at the time he died, that means the last born must be very young then.?
She was six months old at that time.
We gathered that one of your brothers died some years back, what really happened?
Well, it’s a bit complicated. This was in 1993. He was on his way to Abuja. And we believe, well they said it was an accident. But we are not so sure. I mean he was shot. The boy and the driver were arraigned. They were remanded in custody. Later, we heard that they were released. All the documents suddenly disappeared. In fact, this is one of the reasons the Murtala Muhammed Foundation was founded and fighting for victims rights, because we believe that if you give victims right in a legal process, this can no longer happen. If you look at it now, if you arraign someone, an accused person has the right to make phone calls. He has right to a lawyer. He has right to all those kind of things. But in case of a victim, he doesn’t have any right as such. So they can’t compel the police to do anything they don’t want to do. So that is one of the things we are actually fighting for.
Are you now contemplating reopening the case of your brother’s death?
No. The challenge we have now is that the documents have disappeared. We don’t have any document.
From the police?
Yes! The police, from where they were kept. The thing happened in 1993. It is very difficult at this point to reopen the case because there is probably no more evidence and so on. Actually, it is very complicated. And I will really would like to be fair on the records with the Nigeria Police because they were the ones that actually alerted us that it was not an armed robbery incidence. They actually did a good job at that. It is only that the judicial process is such that, you know everybody is aware that in the past it wasn’t as efficient or effective as it ought to be. There are corrupt practices here and there. The only reason the corrupt practices are there is because the victim does not have the same rights as an accused person. If, as a victim, I have the same right as the accused I cannot close my case. Even if he is not the primary victim, in case where the primary victim has died, the secondary victim should be able to have right. As a member of the victim’s family, one should be able to ask questions and take the case up.
How did you feel that you had to stop living in Dodan Barack as a result of your dad’s death?
No. We never lived in Dodan Barack. We had always lived in our own house. We lived outside Dodan Barack.
What effects did it have on you and your siblings that you stopped being children of Head of State?
It didn’t have effect on us because our parents did not bring any special thing around it, that we are children of Head of State. We attended same school with others in public schools around us. We didn’t have any special expectations except the fact that we lost our father. That’s all. Not that we missed being children of Head of Head of State because we didn’t live that kind of life within the period.
How did military authorities treat you after losing your father?
Honestly, we did not have much interaction with those in the military because there was no basis for such interaction.
What were your major challenges at that time?
At think if there was any major challenge, it was paying our school fees. Dealing with cabinet officers of the time, you know you have to gather your papers, and while you are still processing it, before you know it, the holiday is over and you are hoping that they will pay on time before you are turned into a delinquent in school for not paying your school fees on time. My sister almost had to leave school because of failure to pay school fees on time. The challenges were much later. And this was the kind of challenge that we had to face. You know we have never been good in institutionalising processes and procedures. We actually went through a very tough time while going to school. It shouldn’t have happened to us.
What really were the special challenges that you will say actually shaped your life and made you who are today?
You see, it was very tough. That was what I was trying to tell you the other time. Financially, it was difficult for us. Emotionally it was difficult for us. But the other side of it is that it made me resilient. There are very few things now that I can see that can be so challenging to me, because I faced a very challenging beginning. It also made me sympathize with people when they are going through difficult time because I know what it means not to have. So I can help the needy because I had been in need before. But I’m also very lucky that our mother also was able to struggle to ensure we get quality education. That has helped me a lot. Maybe because I didn’t have the distractions of having too much, so I was able to focus on what I wanted to do and become in life. Do you have any political ambition?
I’m thinking about it. I think about it occasionally because I do tell myself that if you can’t complain about something, you are not willing to change it. If you want to change anything, you have to take active part and contribute meaningfully. So I do think about it.
What actually were you thinking when you set up MM Foundation?
There are many things we want to achieve, which basically are the ideals of our late father. We have to work with our people to become independent and what things we can do to help themselves. We have a lot of programmes like capacity building, education, political and public advocacy. For instance, in the North East, we are looking at how we can help the Internally Displaced People, and also develop a robust framework for humanitarian programme for the whole country. We are looking at the Ford Foundation model. We want to come in at times of conflict, whether terrorism or internal strifes. We are designing a framework to see how we can address all those issues.
If you compare the type of administration your father headed that time and the way he fought corruption what will you say about Nigeria situation now?
Things are changing. But you have to take into consideration that it is going to take a while for the issue of corruption, which has become endemic in our system, to be done with. Until we are able to take it out of our system, it is going to keep affecting our ability to grow. What corruption does is that it wastes our resources. The money that should have gone into developing education won’t go into education. The money that is supposed to go into agriculture and health won’t go there. Those that are supposed to go into infrastructure won’t go there. The country that is suppose to be running will be crawling.
Does it bother you that the corruption we ought to have defeated 30, 40 years ago is still with us today?
Well, I think we don’t need to start worrying ourselves on what we ought to have done that we have not done. We have another opportunity now. Let’s take full advantage of that now. So what we need to do now is find out how to make the best use of our vast human and natural resources. Yet it is unfortunate that we have wasted a lot of time and resources in the past, but we are still standing as a nation. Let’s do something now.
What will be your advice to our leaders today looking at the prudence of your dad in governing this nation?
We have to stop the idea of wasting resources and cut all the excesses. Public service has to be about service. These are some of the things we are advocating. If you are public servants, especially elected public officers, you should not be allowed to go abroad for medical care. They should not be allowed to send their children abroad because it is about sacrifice. If you cannot sacrifice, how can you be telling people you are leading to be sacrificing.
Those who want to serve are the ones that we need and not those who come for the paraphernalia of office and to suck the nation dry.
Did you experience any cultural conflict especially when you wanted to marry since your father was Hausa from Kano and your husband is Yoruba?
Yes, I faced a lot of cultural conflicts. But then, I also found it interesting, in the sense that each tribe always thinks its own culture is better than that of others. It allows you to look at it from different perspectives. You are able to consider your views and that of others’. You know, if you are product of cross-cultural marriage, you will be less tribalistic and see yourself of nationalist. I see myself as a Nigerian before I start thinking of which tribe should I consider first since I belong to the North and South. I don’t belong to one completely, so I don’t waste time saying I am a Yoruba or a Hausa, but a Nigerian.
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