Murtala Mohammed

General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (November 8, 1938 – February 13, 1976) was the military ruler (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1975 until his assassination in 1976.

Early life and education

Muhammed was born Murtala Rufai Muhammed (he changed his name from Rufai to Ramat when he became Head of State) in Kano on November 8, 1938 into the Gynawa clan of the Fulani and attended Barewa College Zaria where he was classmates with officers such as Muhammed Shuwa. Muhammed joined the Nigerian Army in 1958 and was enrolled at the Regular Officers Special Training School in Teshie, Ghana where one of his instructors in military tactics and military law was Emeka Ojukwu, then a Nigerian officer on secondment to the Officer Training School. Muhammed received his officer training at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK as a regular combatant and underwent subsequent courses in Signals. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1961 and was posted to Congo where he served with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Upon his return from the Congo in 1962 he was appointed Aide-de-camp to the Administrator of the Western Region, Moses Majekodunmi.

Muhammad

Muḥammad (Arabic: محمد‎; c. 570 CE – 8 June 632 CE), is the central figure of Islam and widely regarded as its founder. He is known to Muslims as the "Holy Prophet", almost all of whom consider him to be the last prophet sent by God to mankind to restore Islam, which they believe to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, and the Quran, which Muslims believe was revealed to him by God, formed the basis of Islamic religious belief.

Born approximately in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. After his childhood Muhammad primarily worked as a merchant. Occasionally, he would retreat to a cave named Hira in the mountains for several nights of seclusion and prayer; later, at age 40, he reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave and received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" (lit. islām) to him is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam.