Muhammad, Murtala Ramat (1938–1976)

Nigerian army officer and politician. He succeeded Gen Yakubu Gowon as head of state in July 1975, but was assassinated in February 1976 in an abortive and irrational coup led by Lt-Col Dimka.

Muhammad was born in Kano. He joined the Nigerian army as a cadet officer in 1958 and in 1959 attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England. He returned to Nigeria in 1961, and served with the UN peace-keeping force in the Congo. In 1964 he was promoted to captain and placed in charge of the army's first signal squadron in Lagos. During the Nigerian Civil War he was general officer commanding the Second Infantry Division, and was involved in the recapture of the midwest capital, Benin. One of the main leaders in Nigeria's coup of July 1966, he played an active role in the new administration under General Gowon. He was promoted to brigadier in 1971, and in 1974 became federal commissioner for communications. In 1975 Muhammad was appointed head of state following the coup against Gowon. He introduced a number of radical anti-corruption measures, drafted a new constitution, and moved the capital to Abuja. He was a popular leader and a devout Muslim. He was killed by army dissidents in 1976.