Admiral Nyako's Footprints On Marble

A review By Bayo Ogunmupe Footprints On Marble is Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako's biography, written by the Editor in chief of the defunct Newswatch magazine, Dan Agbese. It chronicles the life and times of the naval tactician, political gladiator, chief of the naval staff, deputy chief of defence staff, the pioneer military governor of Niger State and the two term civilian governor of Adamawa State of Nigeria. Footprints tells Nyako's influence and legacy on the growth and development of the Nigerian armed forces, the conduct of Nigerian Military officers in Nigerian politics and society from 1966 till date. It's paradoxical to get this distinguished military officer embroiled in the chaotic and treacherous waters of Nigerian politics. The book captures a wide range of audiences, from the history of military intervention in Nigerian politics, civilian politics and governance, to political intrigue, Ibrahim Babangida's maradona and the single mindedness of Admiral Nyako to craft a legacy for himself in his home state of Adamawa. This paperback edition, first published in 2020 is published by MayFive Media Limited, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. It has 23 chapters, a copious introduction, 462 pages, 16 pages of pictures, three pages of references and 17 pages of index. Murtala Hammanyero Nyako was born on August 27, 1943. He was born at Mayo Belwa. Like President Mohammed Buhari who was the 23rd child of his father; Nyako was the 15th child of Alhaji Hammanyero. Suleiman Nyako was Hammanyero's father and Murtala Nyako's grandfather. Mayo Belwa, Nyako's birth place is the headquarters of the local government area of that name, created in 1976. Mayo Belwa is in Fombina Emirate founded by Modibbo Adama under the Sokoto Caliphate. The colonial government renamed it Adamawa Province, after its founder, Modibbo Adama.Nyako's father Hammanyero was a successful businessman which took him to Northern Cameroon, a German colony at the time. He was the main supplier of fresh milk to the Germans at the time. It was after the UN plebiscite in British Cameroon on February 11, 1961 that Northern Cameroon elected to merge with Nigeria. It was then that Fombina Emirate became part of Nigeria. Even then, the Nyako family is today the single largest and most influential family in Mayo Belwa Local Government Area. Nyako was enrolled in Mayo Elementary School in January 1952. he cried the whole day because he didn't want to go to school. Later he attended Yola Middle School. Certainly, fate had a hand in sending Nyako to school. The decision was influenced by the boy's rascality. Nyako was troublesome, he was the only boy who talked back to his elders"because according to him, he liked to speak his mind." His family felt only the primary school would cure him of his rascality. Nyako was registered in the primary school as Murtala Mayo Belwa but in form five at Government Secondary School, Yola, it was changed to Murtala Alhaji Hammanyero Nyako. Early in his life, Nyako holds the belief that as a privileged son of a rich man, "he could never run away from his responsibility towards the needy. He knew too that to give, he must have. He chose to have in order to give. For this reason, Nyako has never had the ambition to accumulate wealth. For him, money is a means to an end; that end being, in both secular and sacerdotal sense, the good of those less fortunate than him." In May 1963 and on June 6, 1963 Nyako and Forbes Rudolph his school mate were formerly enlisted as officer cadets in the Royal Nigerian Navy. He attended the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, United Kingdom. He graduated from the college on July 27, 1966. Sadly, before Nyako finished his military training, turmoil engulfed Nigeria and the military had taken over the country. Five majors and a captain in the Nigerian Army, led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu had on January 15, 1966 staged a military coup against the administration of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The coup failed and the General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Major General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi was invited to temporarily administer Nigeria and restore order to the country. As head of state, Ironsi said the coup was a mutiny and ordered the arrest of the plotters. But they were never tried for their crime against the state. That was the first Northern grouse against Ironsi, forming among others grounds for a revenge coup seven months later. Seeing himself as a child of fate, Ironsi promulgated Decree 34 of May 24, 1966, better known as the Unification Decree. It abolished the federal system of government, replacing it with the unitary system. On July 29, 1966, Ironsi was overthrown and replaced by Col Yakubu Gowon. All his policies and decrees were repealed.