General Murtala Ramat Muhammed born (November 8, 1938 - February 13, 1976) was a military ruler (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1975 until his assassination in 1976.
Muhammed opposed the regime of Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi which took power after a coup d'etat on January 15, 1966 carried out mainly by junior Igbo officers from the south, in which several northern Nigerian leaders had been killed under gruesome circumstances. Aguiyi-Ironsi, as GOC of the Nigerian Army, brought normality back to the nation by imprisoning the coup makers and intimidating the federal cabinet into handing over the helms of government to him. However, many northerners saw the reluctance of Ironsi to prosecute the coupist and the fact that the army was giving exceptional privileges to the coupist as an indication of Ironsi's support for the killings. Consequently northern politicians and civil servants mounted pressure upon northern officers such as Muhammed to avenge the coup. On the night of July 29, 1966, northern soldiers at Abeokuta barracks mutinied, thus precipitating a counter-coup, which may very well have been in the planning stages. The counter-coup led to the installation of Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, despite the intransigence of Muhammed who wanted the role of Supreme Commander for himself. However, as Gowon was militarily his senior, and finding a lack of support from the British and American advisors, he caved in. Gowon rewarded him by confirming his rank (he had been an acting Lt. Colonel till then) and his appointment as Inspector of Signals.

During the Nigerian Civil War, Muhammed was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army's 2nd Division. This division was responsible for beating back the Biafran Army from the midwest region, as well as crossing the River Niger and linking up with the 1st Division, which was marching down from Nsukka and Enugu. He left for an extended holiday in the United Kingdom after suffering several embarrassing defeats during the war. He was also accused of war crimes. Muhammed steadfastly denied these claims during the war, but conceded after the war that his troops may have gotten carried away. He never proffered any apology. 

On his return to Nigeria after the war, he was given back his old position of Army Signals Inspector and it seemed the last chapter had been written in his army career. However, with the declining popularity of the Gowon government, which had been characterized by excesses and corruption Brigadier (later General) Muhammed was made head of state on July 29, 1975, when General Gowon was overthrown while at an Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Kampala, Uganda. Brigadiers Obasanjo (later Lt.General) and Danjuma (later Maj.General) were appointed as Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ and Chief of Army Staff (2nd and 3rd in command) respectively. General Muhammad purged members of the public service on basis of incompetence or malpractice. Murtala Muhammad initiated a comprehensive review of the Third National Development Plan which involved bringing the Nations' capital to Abuja from Lagos. Muhammed introduced the phrases "Fellow Nigerians" and "with immediate effect" to the national lexicon. In a short time, Murtala Muhammed's policies won him broad popular support, and his decisiveness elevated him to the status of a folk hero.

Murtala Muhammed was killed on February 13, 1976 in an abortive coup attempt led by Lt.Col Buka Suka Dimka, when his car was ambushed while en route to his office at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. Several top officers including former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, were accused of either planning or approving the coup attempt. He was succeeded by the Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ Olusegun Obasanjo, who completed the plan of an orderly transfer to civilian rule by handing power to Shehu Shagari on October 1, 1979.