STAFF NOTES: MIDDLE EAST AFRICA SOUTH ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 7, 2006
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: August 4, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

25X1
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 :CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R0004 I et
~4pf~~ CJO~C~~
Middle East
Africa
youth Asia
DIA review(s) completed.
Secret
No. 0837/75
August 4, 1975
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 25X1 Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/01/1~C~QP86T00608R000400040032-0
MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA - SOUTH ASIA
CONTENTS
Nigeria: New _Leaders Drawn from Second
Echelon of Military
. 1
Mozambique: Soviet Rebuff . . .
Aug 4, 1975
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17: CI RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/0LYCp1?PDP86T00608R000400040032-0
New Leadere Drawn from
Second Echelon of MiZitaa';/
Nigeria's new military leaders appear to have
moved against former chief of state Gowon out of a
common conviction that Nigeria neede.:d a more activist
government and that Gowon and his sr,,nior associated
had enjoyed the fruits of military .ule for too long.
The new team is drawn largely from the second echelon
of the country's military establis inent.
The new Supreme Military Couw?i,il includes 22
military and police officers. V. appears to be
balanced among Muslims from the north, Yorubas from
the west, and minority tribes, as the Gowon-era
leaders were. Although it is hard to say who holds
power, right now four individuals for the moment are
in positions of great influence.
Brigadier Murtala Mohammed
Murtala Mohammed is Nigeria's new chief of state
and head of the armed forces, 1;,'.at his role in Tues-
days' coup and the degree of p-.,:)wer he now wields are
not yet clear. Born in 1938 .icy Kano, he is a Muslim
from the Hausa tribe, northern, Nigeria's largest
ethnic group.
In the Gowon regime, he t,.;is commissioner of com-
munications and head of the army signal corps, one
of the army's most professional and effective units.
During the Biafra war, he was relieved as a division
commander because of his poor showing.
Mohammed has been,described as a cold, ruthless
nationalist, intelligent and strong-willed. In his
public pronouncements so far, he has given the impres-
sion of baing in charge and determined to take the
tough measures his fellow officers want to cope with
Nigeria's problems.
(Continued)
Aug 4, 1975
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
SECRET
If he is to gain broad acceptance by the mili-
tary nWU he country, Mohammed will have to shed his
reputation for putting northern over national
interests. He made a gesture in this direction in
his first speech after the coup, when he scrapped
the controversial 1973 census figures. The 1973
figures, which indicated that nearly two thirds of
Nigeria's population resided in the six northern
states, have been a hot political issue and were
bitterly contested by southern tribes.
The accession of Mohammed to power will be of
concern to the Ibos of eastern Nigeria, who remember
him as one of the most hawkish northern officers
toward the Biafran secessionists. Today there are
63 Ibo officers in the army, and none appears to
have been given an important post in the new regime.
Although a Muslim, Mohammed is not expected to
advocate an avowedly pro-Arab stance in Nigeria's
foreign relations. Such a course of action would
only make Nigeria's non-Muslim minority more fearful
of northern domination.
Mohammed's attitude toward the US is unknown.
in the pant he has espoused a strong line on south-
ern African issues; this attitude could lead to
increased criticism o.Z' the US for its policy toward
Rhodesia and South Af lca.
Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo
Hip. position as the new chief of staff at
supreme headquarters makes Brigadier.- Olusegun Obasanjo
the number-two man in the hierarchy. He is a 38-year-
old Catholic born in western Nigeria and a Yoruba
tribesman.
(Continued)
Aug 4, 1975 2
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 6T00608R000400040032-0
Approved For Release 2007/01/17sLG~J1tL
IF
Formerly commissioner of works and housing and
head of the army engineers, he is one of the most
respected Yoruba officers. During the civil war,
Obasanjo was considered an effective and popular
division commander and was known as a strict dis-
ciplinarian. fie is considered personally honest.
Obasanjo has recently shown a penchant for
impulsive actions. Ile took it upon himself last
month to order troops to surround the US embassy
annex in Lagos. He and others were trying to get
the US to vacate the building at once; it is
scheduled to be turned over to the Nigerian govern-
ment next year.
Obasanjo is known to have strong views on
southern Africa.
Brigadier Theophilus Danjuma
The army's third-ranking position is in the
hands of a minority tribesman, Brigadier. Theophilus
Danjuma, the 37-year-old former commander of the
Third Infantry Division. Ile is a Christian from
the Junkun tribe.
Officers from other small tribes held substantial
power in the Gowon government and they will look to
Danjuma to protect their interests in the new regime.
The US defense attache views Danjuma, who is
relatively idealistic and thought to be incorruptible,
as perhaps the council's most able member. He is
pro-Western in outlook.
Like Mohammed, Danjuma was a key figure in the
July 1966 coup. He was considered by many to have
been an excellent combat officer during the civil war.
Mohammadu Yusufu
Mohammadu Yusufu, Nigeria's new chief of police,
may wield important power in the new government. The
ex-head of the police special branch, he is a Fulani
Muslim born in 1931.
(Continued)
Aug 4, 1975 3
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/01/1gE,, eft 86T00608R000400040032-0
After the 1966 coup, he reportedly played a key
part in persuading northern leaders not to secede.
In 1967, he was instrumental in getting the northerners
to accept the division of Nigeria into 12 states, a
measure that established a better political balance
among the country's-competing regional and tribal
interests.
25X1
I I
Aug 4, 1975 4
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/01/
eIaJRnP86TO0608RO00400040032-0
9tRET
Mozambique
Soviet Rebuff
Moscow's ardor for newly independent Mozambique
seems to be cooling. The Soviets reportedly turned
down recent Mozambican requests for Soviet doctors
and harbor pilots.
In particular, the Soviets may be annoyed by
the $56-million aid agreement signed July 2 by
Mozambique and China; especially since the reported
Soviet failure this spring to reach an accord pro-
viding the Soviet navy access to Mozambican port
facilities.
The Soviets do not want to become embroiled in
a costly rivalry with Peking, and they recognize
that Mozambique will try to balance relations be-
tween the two communist nations. As a result, the
Soviets are likely to continue to keep open their
military assistance channels and to maintain more
or less friendly diplomatic relations.
Aug 4, 1975 5
25X1
25X1
SECRET
Approved For Release 2007/01/17 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000400040032-0