Former Chief of Army Staff, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) remains one of Nigeria’s unsung heroes. A soldier to the core, Danjuma’s self-effacing attributes as a leader endeared him to his colleagues and explained his meteoric rise through the ranks to the enviable position of Army chief.

But, unlike most of his colleagues, he had little interest in seeking political appointment after retiring from the military. All he wanted to do was go into business, and he instantly became a hit on going into the private sector.
He was so much sought after that he was appointed into boards of so many blue-chip companies because he is not only respected, but as a result of his closeness to the corridors of power, which the firms believe can give them access to powers as well as help increase their profit margin.


Though Danjuma never ran for office after leaving the military, he opted to remain a
kingmaker and was one of those that made it possible for a former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, to come back the second time to rule Nigeria for another eight years.
Besides supporting Obasanjo, he served in his government as Defence Minister. However, his insistence on rules, forced him to sever ties with the man he helped brought to power. Not many would have contemplated that given pecuniary benefits that come with the office he occupied.
Danjuma’s disagreement with Obasanjo stemmed from his belief that the latter was becoming dictatorial and most importantly, the then rumoured third term plot. But, leaving the government did not deter the Takum born army general from expressing his views on critical national issues.

While Danjuma’s views on issues, be it the insurgency in the North-East or alleged plot to impose the Sharia ideology on the North, militancy in the Niger Delta and failure of leadership, among others, earned him both kudos and knocks, his call in 2018, for Nigerians to defend themselves against killers in the country, triggered a heated debate that pitted him against authorities and many others.
He had then pointedly accused the military of colluding with those perpetuating killings across the country because they have “an ethnic cleansing agenda.”
Danjuma, who spoke then at the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, averred: “I am not a politician and politics is one profession I don’t want to belong to because if I am a politician, I would not say what I am going to say to you now.

“When I arrived this arena, I saw rich cultural display, and I was amazed at the rich cultural heritage of our people. Taraba is a mini Nigeria with diverse ethnic groups living together peacefully, but the peace in this state is under assault.
“There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state and of course, some rural states in Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it; everyone of us must rise up.
“The armed forces are not neutral. They are conniving with armed bandits that kill people. They facilitate their movement. They cover them. You must rise to defend yourselves from these people. If you are depending on the armed forces to protect you, you will all die one by one.
“I ask every one of you to be alert and defend your country. Defend your territory; defend your states, because you have nowhere else to go. Ethnic cleansing must stop in Nigeria otherwise Somalia would be child’s play.”

No doubt, some individuals have advocated such measure before then given the spate of killings by suspected herdsmen across the country. But a personality like Danjuma reiterating such measure, explained the torrent of reactions that trailed the advice.
Both the Federal Government and the Army, in separate reactions, did not only dismiss his allegations, but said such calls were inflammatory and should be disregarded.
The government, which spoke through the then Minister of Defence, Brig. General Mansur Dan-Ali, said: “This is highly uncalled for and is invitation to anarchy and should be disregarded by well-meaning Nigerians.”


He added: “The efforts of the Nigerian military towards restoration of peace, security and order in Nigeria are evidently clear and Nigerians continue to show appreciation for changing the security environment from what it was before.
“The armed forces is well organised and highly professional in discharging its constitutional mandate. Therefore, if anyone has evidence of wrongdoing or dereliction of duty against our troops, the person should please bring forward such evidence through the channel for necessary action.”
The Nigerian Army, on its part, said: “The public is notified that Nigerian Army personnel have had to pay the supreme price for ensuring the sustenance of security in Taraba State.

“For instance, a gallant non-commission officer of the Nigerian Army was beheaded on March 16, 2018 in Takum Taraba State by criminal elements. It is noteworthy to state that at the inception of ‘Exercise Ayem Akpatuma’ or ‘Cat Race,’ the Taraba State government did not cooperate with the Nigerian Army due to the Army’s stance to remain absolutely neutral in the herdsmen-farmers crisis. But the Nigerian Army will continue to remain as such,” then Army spokesperson, Brig. General Texas Chukwu, said in a statement.

While it was words of caution from both the Federal Government and the military for Danjuma then, the Supreme Council for Shari’ah, called for his prosecution over what it described as treasonable felony.
Kaduna State chairman of the council, Yusuf Rigachikun, who noted that Danjuma’s statement was unguarded, said: “The call by General T. Y Danjuma on the citizens to take up arms to defend themselves and the accusation of the Nigerian armed forces colluding in the killing of Nigerians is quite unfortunate.
“It is pertinent to note that for a person of his calibre to openly call on citizens to take up arms because of demilitarisation being carried out by the Nigerian Army is a call to anarchy and also a call to treason and treasonable felony.

“The council calls on the Federal Government to invite, investigate and prosecute the general for such a most unfortunate statement in the presence of students, who are known to be volatile and prone to youthful exuberance.
“His action poses a threat to the peace and stability of the state and is a crime against the state. The prosecution of the General will go a long way for the culture
of impunity not to threaten the cooperate existence of Nigeria.”

Despite the Supreme Council for Shari’ah’s call for Danjuma’s prosecution, many were of the view then that the presidency might find it difficult to go after the former Army chief given his societal standing. Born on December 9, 1938 in Takum Taraba State, Danjuma attended St Bartholomew’s Primary School in Wusasa, then Benue Provincial Secondary School in Katsina-Ala.
He received his Higher School Certificate in 1958 and in 1959 enrolled at the Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology in Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) majoring in History on a Northern Nigeria Scholarship.
However, by the end of 1960, Danjuma had left university for recruitment in the Nigerian Army. He was officially commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1963 as a second lieutenant and platoon commander in the Congo.

He joined a UN Peace-keeping force in Santé, Katanga Province in Congo and was promoted to captain three years later. In 1966, Danjuma, then a captain was involved in the countercoup that toppled the regime of Maj. General Johnson Aguiyi- Ironsi.
He also featured prominently in the Nigerian-Biafran war (1967-1970). In 1970, Danjuma attended the International Court Martial in Trinidad and Tobago as Nigeria’s representative, when he was appointed president of the tribunal in a case brought against members of a failed coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago.

Following his promotion to a colonel in 1971, he spent next two years with responsibility for court-martialling Army officers proven guilty of corruption and indiscipline. In 1975 he was promoted to brigadier and the position of General Officer Commanding (GOC) and the following year, he became the Chief of Army Staff.

He retired from the Army in 1979. Danjuma’s national honor as Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) is the highest award given in Nigeria to a non-head of state. He also has several other national and international awards and titles, as well as honorary doctorate degrees from notable Nigerian and foreign universities.

It was apparently against the backdrop of Danjuma’s rich profile that some analysts opined in the wake of the controversies that trailed his call for Nigerians to defend themselves that though critics of the present administration have been cowed in one way or the other for speaking out on the state of the nation and speaking truth to power, gagging Danjuma would be a daunting task.

Those who expressed the belief seem to have been justified given the bombshell the former Minister of Defence dropped on Thursday last week, while speaking during a book launch by the Nigerian Tribune at the University of Ibadan. Danjuma, who accused activists in the South-West geopolitical zone of losing their voice, said if he disclosed what is happening in the country, people would no longer sleep.


His words: “In Yorubaland, everybody seems to have lost their voice, scared. And people appear not to care about what is happening. If I tell you what I know that is happening in Nigeria today, you will no longer sleep. “So, Chief Ayo Adebanjo’s warning and advice is very timely. If you want details, I will give it to you privately. We are in a big hole as nation. And people who put us in this hole have continued today.

So, we’ve to wake up. Only we can save ourselves. “The fifth columnists’ activities going on among your people are not helping matters. May Almighty God continue to bless this country, but only we can save ourselves from ourselves.”
Expectedly, torrents of reactions have trailed Danjuma’s subtle threat to open up on the state of the nation. While many urged him to speak up on what he knows about present day Nigeria, others said there is nothing he would say that will give Nigerians sleepless nights. National Chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, who belongs to the political school that Danjuma has nothing new to say, told New Telegraph that the former Chief Army Staff cannot absolve himself of the country’s woes.

His words: “I cannot be carried away by Danjuma’s threat that Nigerians will no longer sleep if he opens up on what is happening in Nigeria today because if he has been sleeping with all he knows about Nigeria all this while, nothing will make Nigerians not to sleep if he opens up now.

“Danjuma should realize that we are aware of the roles he and his co-conspirators played in the past that brought us to where we are as a nation today. So, it either he opens up and make restitution as God has given the opportunity of long life to do so or he better keep whatever he knows to himself and live with it.”
A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who spoke in the same vein, called on Danjuma to give details of whatever he knows about Nigeria before it is too late.

The former minister, who took to his Twitter page to react on the statement by the ex-Army chief, wrote: “Would someone please tell General TY Danjuma that if he wants to talk he should talk! “Nigerians have already lost their sleep! We are already a vassal state being run by crude barbarians and we have nothing to lose.
He should talk now before it is too late or forever hold his peace!” Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central senator, who also reacted on the issue, called on Danjuma to give details of whatever he knows about Nigeria, so that Nigerians “will be awakened” by the insomnia of its truth.

“Dear Baba Gen TY, spill the ardorous, putrid Beans, so that the snoring slumberland ‘will be awakened’ by the insomnia of its truth and of its reality,”
Senator Sani wrote on his Twitter handle. However, some of Danjuma’s kinsmen, under the aegis of Middle Belt Conscience Guard, an umbrella body of the states in the Middle Belt region, described the former Army chief ’s comment as diversionary and tactless.

The group, in a statement signed by its National President, Prince Raymond Enero, in a statement, further said that Danjuma’s comment is unpatriotic and highly misleading. The group therefore warned the ex-military general to desist from making statements that could cause unrest in the nation.

The statement read in part: “The Middle Belt Conscience Guard wishes to state that the statement credited to Theophilus Danjuma is not a reflection of the mindset of the people of the Middle Belt region in Nigeria in its entirety. “The statement can be best described as diversionary, tactless, and of poor taste, meant to unnecessarily heat the polity for no morally justifiable reason.

“The Middle Belt Conscience Guard views with concern the way and manner a supposed elder statesman, who has benefited immensely from Nigeria could throw caution to the wind by making statements that are not meant for unifying purposes, but for disintegration and to create chaos in the country.

“We are constrained to ask Danjuma what he stands to benefit by making such inglorious call in this critical point of our existence as a people and as a country.
If this is not malicious, we do not know what to call it.” Urging Danjuma to retrace his steps and tender unreserved apologies to the country for acting against common sense, the group advised the former minister against portraying himself as a saint amongst sinners, while he is part and parcel of the anomaly that has been entrenched in the system from time immemorial.

“It is expected that his likes should at this age and time sober reflect on how they have conspired to bring Nigeria to its knees while they held sway at the helm of affairs in the country with their actions and inactions that were self-serving and inglorious. “The Middle Belt Conscience Guard believes that Danjuma is flying a kite aimed at promoting the interests of their allies that were rejected by the electorate in the recently concluded general election in the country.

“This is indeed a testament to the fact that the hawks that held Nigeria hostage had been rejected, and as such, the country must be made ungovernable in their bid to bring Nigeria to its knees as they intended.
“The Middle belt Conscience Guard wishes to inform the generality of Nigerians to hold Danjuma and his cohorts responsible should there be an attempt at truncating Nigeria’s nascent democracy in the days ahead as it evident that there is a grand plot by some disgruntled elements that are not happy with the progress been made in critical areas of the economy in Nigeria.
“It is instructive to state that the generality of Nigerians can decipher between light and darkness. As such, any attempt to heat the polity unnecessarily through callous statements would be resisted in its entirety.”

No doubt, Danjuma, in his usual style, has stirred the hornets again. However, while those he appointed accusing fingers at are yet to respond, only time will tell whether the concern he raised is genuine or a mere dust aimed at ruffling those in power.