Dr. George Agbakahi, a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has compared the policies and leadership philosophies of Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the current president, to General Murtala Muhammed, the late military head of state.
Speaking on Nigeria Today, a program of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Agbakahi called both presidents “courageous and visionary,” emphasizing their common dedication to audacious, revolutionary reforms in vital areas of the Nigerian economy.
Recently, Gen. Muhammad’s friends and family commemorated his 50th birthday.
On February 13, 1976, at the age of 37, he was killed in a disastrous coup headed by army Lieutenant Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka.
Agbakahi pointed out that while operating under very different political systems, the two leaders’ policy goals are strikingly similar.
In terms of education, he claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu founded 62 new higher education institutions (Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Ed) whereas General Murtala Muhammad founded seven federal universities soon after the civil war.
He stated that President Tinubu unveiled his agriculture transformation program, which included mechanized farming, dry season farming with modern equipment, and fertilizer proliferation among the farming population, while Gen. Murtala Muhammed introduced “Operation Feed the Nation.”
Once more, Agbakahi, the South East head of the Tinubu Support Organization (TSO), claimed that while President Tinubu concentrated on the FCT’s long-term growth and development, the late military Head of State was the driving force for the capital’s relocation to Abuja.
He acknowledged that General Muhammad had laid the groundwork for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He maintained that the city would not be what it is now if Muhammad had not taken strong action to relocate the capital from Lagos to Abuja.
He underlined that President Tinubu is now “working assiduously” to expand on that foundation, especially in the FCT’s infrastructural development.
Agbakahi recalled General Muhammad’s zero-tolerance stance against corruption and extensive civil service reforms throughout his 201-day term.
He said that by combating systemic corruption through democratic means, President Tinubu’s administration is acting in a similar manner.
“The point that I’m making and I still make is that a military regime is totally different from a democracy,” he continued.
“Murtala Muhammad ruled with the Supreme Military Council, but there are many different paths in a democracy. For certain bills to pass, they must pass the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the general public.
Despite these structural contrasts, he came to the conclusion that President Tinubu’s efforts in infrastructure and agriculture, which span from the North to the South, reflect the progressive ethos that the late General promoted throughout his brief but significant tenure in office.
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