Murtala Muhammed was an incorruptible leader — Amb. Wali

Former minister of foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali is a cousin to the former Head of State, late General Murtala Ramat Muhammed.

In this tribute captured by Bashir Bello, Wali describes the late leader as an incorruptible individual who detested material things.

May God forgive him and may his soul continue to rest in peace. We should continue to pray for him for the good works he did.

The late Murtala Muhammed was somebody with rare qual- i t i e s that most people don’t have, because I happen to be one of the closest people to him. He is honest in what- ever he does. He is somebody that is concerned all the time about the people’s welfare and how they are being treated in this country.

I was in Lagos the very day he was assassinated. And I was sitting in the aircraft with his body in front of me and General Ilya Bisalla sitting next to me when we were bringing the body to Kano.

Late Murtala is somebody that whatever he does or intends to do, so long as he believes in what he is doing, he goes ahead to do it no matter what people will say. He believes in his judgement and he is rarely wrong.

One, he’s somebody that doesn’t look at material things — he died penniless. I was in Lagos. I was a businessman. And sometimes when I come to the house because we are second cousins with him, he will say ‘Aminu come’ — he wilbring out his empty wallet — and he will say ‘you see this your children, if you don’t pay their school fees, they will be kicked out.’

What Nigeria has missed so far is invaluable. What Murtala represents in terms of his commitment to this country and commitment to making sure that everybody lives according to what he can afford is invaluable.

He is somebody that doesn’t tolerate bribery or corruption, this much I know, because among his cousin’s I am the closest.

Let me give you an example. People come to me and say, look, your brother is the head of state, everybody is getting oil (contracts). I told him at a point in time and he told me to forget about them.

If it is this, then he showed me. You see that Quran? You see the prayer mate? I said yes, he said, Gaddafi sent it to me. So, you wait. If you want this sort of thing, I can send you to Gaddafi. Whatever he does for you is okay but not me. Because, whatever I do, people would relate it to me.

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