Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said the assassination of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed exposed grave security lapses that compelled Nigeria’s military leadership at the time to fundamentally rethink and reorganise the country’s security architecture. Recalling events surrounding the February 1976 coup, Obasanjo said the shock of Murtala Mohammed’s assassination forced the leadership to confront painful truths about negligence within the security system. “We had to look back and ask ourselves where we had gone wrong, and we realised there had been serious negligence in security. He recalled returning from the war front to argue that Nigeria needed to first stabilise its political order. Reflecting on the leadership that emerged in 1975, Obasanjo described Murtala Mohammed and his colleagues as patriotic, disciplined and driven by a clear sense of mission.

Source: Nigerian Tribune February 12, 2026 14:42 UTC