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Akintunde Akinsehinwa: The Young Officer Who Died with Murtala Mohammed (November 11, 1944 – February 13, 1976)

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Akintunde Akinsehinwa was born in 1944 in Ondo, Nigeria. A promising young soldier, he rose through the Nigerian Army ranks with exceptional speed and discipline. Known for his intelligence and reliability, Akinsehinwa was appointed as the aide-de-camp (ADC) to General Murtala Ramat Muhammed—making him the youngest officer ever to serve in that capacity in Nigeria’s history.

Early life

Akintunde Akinsehinwa was born in Ondo City in Ondo State, Nigeria on 11 November 1944. He started his early education in Owo and finished his secondary school education at Edopkolo Secondary School in Benin City, Nigeria where he obtained his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (WASC) in 1963. Upon completion of his studies Akinsehinwa moved to Ibadan in the western province of Nigeria where he worked as a clerk at the High Court.

Military career

At the commencement of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, Akintunde Akinsehinwa was recruited by the Nigerian Army and trained as an officer cadet at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State. After six months of training, Akinsehinwa was commissioned by the Army as a second lieutenant and sent to the war front to join the famous 3rd Marine Commando Division (3MCDO) under the stewardship of “The Black Scorpion” – Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, where he participated in military offensive efforts on the Calabar front to quell the secession of the Biafran separatist movement.

After the war ended in 1970, Akinsehinwa chose to undergo further military training by taking Signal Officers Courses. Upon completion of his training he was promoted to rank of Lieutenant and posted to Arakan Signals Barracks in Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria as an officer of the Nigerian Army Signal Corps. While at Arakan, he was appointed as a staff officer to then Brigadier General Muhammed who was brigade commander of signals at the time. Brigadier General Muhammed was soon appointed as Minister of Communications by the Yakubu Gowon regime and took Akinsehinwa along with him as a personnel staff officer and technical assistant. On July 29, 1975, General Muhammed was made head of state (succeeding Gowon) by younger soldiers who wanted to ensure Nigeria’s return to democratic rule. He was not directly involved in the coup d’état that brought him to power, but he had played a prominent role in rallying northern officers behind the July 1966 coup that felled Aguiyi-Ironsi.

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Upon becoming Head of State, Murtala appointed Akinsehinwa as his Aide-de-Camp (a role usually reserved for a senior officer such as a Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel). Muhammed citing Akinsehinwa’s hard work, wit and intelligence, appointed Akinsehinwa as Aide-de-Camp effectively making him the youngest (Age – 30) and lowest ranking presidential Aide-de-Camp in Nigerian history. In a short time, Muhammed’s policies won him broad popular support, and his decisiveness elevated him to the status of a national hero.

Death

On 13 February 1976, General Muhammed’s motorcade was ambushed in Lagos by coup plotters and assassins amid an abortive coup d’état. The coup plotters unleashed a hail of bullets on Muhammed’s black Mercedes Benz limousine (not bulletproof) killing him instantly. Muhammed’s driver and orderly were also killed instantly. However, Akinsehinwa survived the initial barrage of bullets and exited the limousine to return fire. Unfortunately, he was overpowered and eventually succumbed to a hail of bullets (an autopsy revealed six bullet wounds in his back). Akintunde Akinsehinwa at 31 years of age thus became the first aide-de-camp to die in the line of duty while serving a Nigerian head of state.

 

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Lifestyle

Women Who Love and Listen to Their Pastors More Than Their Husbands Should Be the Pastor’s Second Wife

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This statement may sound funny, provocative, or even offensive, but it raises an important question about priorities in marriage and religion.

A pastor is a spiritual leader, but he is not supposed to replace a woman’s husband. If a married woman consistently values her pastor’s opinions above her husband’s, obeys her pastor while dismissing her husband, or shows greater loyalty and admiration toward her pastor than toward her spouse, then something may be seriously wrong with the balance in that marriage.

Marriage requires communication, mutual respect, trust, and understanding. A pastor can provide spiritual guidance, but that guidance should not become a reason for a husband and wife to lose respect for each other.

At the same time, husbands should not expect their wives to obey them blindly. Both husband and wife should seek God’s wisdom, communicate openly, and make decisions with love and respect.

So perhaps the real question is not whether such a woman should become the pastor’s “second wife,” but why has the pastor become more important in her marriage than her own husband?

Put God first. Respect your spouse. And never allow a spiritual leader to become a substitute for your marriage partner.

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Why is it only in Africa that we hear so much about “generational curses”?

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This is a question worth asking—not to insult African traditions or dismiss anyone’s beliefs, but to encourage honest reflection.

Across Africa, it is common to hear people explain repeated family problems as a “generational curse.” When poverty, broken relationships, addiction, failure, sickness, family conflict or misfortune appears to repeat from one generation to another, some people immediately conclude that an ancestor, spiritual force or past wrongdoing is responsible.

But is every repeated family problem truly a curse?

If a child grows up in poverty, has limited access to quality education, receives little financial support and then struggles as an adult, is that necessarily a spiritual curse—or could it be the result of circumstances that have been passed from one generation to another?

If children grow up watching violence, substance abuse, unhealthy relationships or constant conflict, they may unknowingly repeat those patterns. That does not necessarily mean they are cursed. Sometimes behaviour is inherited through environment, not through supernatural forces.

And Africa is certainly not the only place where people believe in supernatural explanations for suffering or misfortune. Different societies around the world have their own concepts of inherited wrongdoing, family misfortune, ancestral consequences, fate and spiritual punishment.

So perhaps the more important question is not:

“Who cursed my family?”

But:

“What pattern has been passed down to me, and what can I do to stop passing it to the next generation?”

We should be careful not to use the idea of a curse to discourage people from taking action. A family facing poverty may need education, opportunity and financial planning. A family experiencing repeated conflict may need healthier communication. A person struggling with addiction may need professional support and a strong recovery environment. Communities facing injustice may need better institutions, accountability and opportunity.

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Faith and spirituality are deeply meaningful to many people, and everyone has the right to hold their beliefs. But faith should not prevent us from examining the practical causes of our problems.

We cannot change the past, but we can change what we pass forward.

Instead of teaching our children that they are victims of an unavoidable family curse, let us also teach them knowledge, discipline, emotional strength, financial responsibility, education, healthy relationships and the courage to break destructive patterns.

Maybe the greatest “curse” is not something mysterious placed upon a family.

Maybe sometimes it is simply a problem that nobody stopped long enough to understand and change.

And the greatest inheritance we can give the next generation is not fear of a curse—but the knowledge and courage to build a better future.

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Lifestyle

You are very proud to speak big English, but yet you cannot speak your own language?

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There is nothing wrong with speaking English fluently. In fact, being able to communicate confidently in different languages is a valuable skill. But we should ask ourselves a deeper question: while learning to speak the language of another culture, are we slowly losing the language that connects us to our own roots?

Your mother tongue is more than just words. It carries the stories of your ancestors, the wisdom of your grandparents, the jokes that only your people understand, the traditional greetings, the names, the songs, the history and the identity of your community.

Imagine being able to speak perfect English, but struggling to have a simple conversation with your own grandmother because you do not understand the language she grew up speaking. Imagine your children knowing foreign languages but being unable to understand the language of their own heritage.

That should make us pause.

Speaking English does not make you more intelligent, and speaking your indigenous language does not make you less educated. One is a communication skill; the other can be a connection to your heritage. We should not have to choose between being educated and preserving our identity.

Learn English. Speak it confidently. Learn French, Dutch, Spanish or any other language that opens doors for you.

But don’t let the pursuit of foreign languages close the door to your own.

Teach your children your language. Speak it at home. Ask your parents and grandparents to teach you the words you never learned. If you have forgotten it, it is never too late to start again.

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Because when a language disappears from a family, something precious disappears with it.

Be proud of your education. Be proud of your ability to speak English. But also be proud of where you come from.

Your language is not something to be ashamed of. It is a part of your story. Preserve it before the next generation only knows it as something their ancestors once spoke.

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