Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has eulogised the ex-Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, forty years after his death.

The former Head of State ruled over Nigeria from July 30, 1975, until his assassination on February 13, 1976.

Murtala Mohammed, who was assassinated at the of 38, was a Nigerian general who led the Northern counter-coup forces in overthrowing the Republic of Nigeria and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War, which started on July 6, 1967, and ended on January 15, 1970

However, Atiku, who took to his verified Twitter handle on Sunday, described the former Head of State “as a real Nigerian hero who paid the paid the supreme price for the love of Nigeria”.

He wrote: “Forty six years ago, we lost a real Nigerian hero. A man who gave so much to this nation, and paid the supreme price for the love of Nigeria.

“I remember the great pride and patriotism Nigerians had after his ‘Africa Has Come of Age’ speech at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa, on Sunday, January 11, 1976. He saw the future that he never got to live in.

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“Murtala Mohammed was in a hurry to develop Nigeria and in his determined progressivism, he planted trees, whose shades he never lived to enjoy, including the new Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the Indigenisation policy, which increased the participation of Nigerians in their own economy, and the purest, objective and most effective fight against corruption that this clime has ever seen.

“In the end, this pan-African, and pan Nigerian symbol of hope renewed our commitment to the unity of Nigeria, and our zeal for a better tomorrow, via the charisma and single-minded vision that he brought into governance.

“Today, I remember him as always. May his soul continue to rest in peace, and may Almighty Allah grant him al jannah firdaus.”

TheStar