Starting his early burst into limelight during the counter coup of July 28, 1966, the short clip states that Danjuma, a man of
BY SIMON REEF MUSA
Less than 24 hours after my article was published on the back page of LEADERSHIP Weekend on December 09, 2023, on the title, ‘Phenomenal TY Danjuma @86’, readers flooded my WhatsApp with a 3-minute-18- second Tik Tok video snippet on the former Minister of Defence and Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (retd). The clip seems to be on a deliberate journey to dress one of the nation’s courageous army officers in robes most contemptible and appalling.
My initial decision to simply ignore and not dignify the clip with a response would eventually change. Though I was unperturbed by the number of people who shared the clip with me through social media platforms, but I felt remaining hushed in the face of these glaring tales of ignorance amounted to providing a boundless market for peddlers of untruths to sell their poison unhindered. One may not stand on the way of bad people throwing muck on good people; but younger generations that are oblivious of the past must not be allowed to fall victims to the antics of retarded minds inflicted with dishonesty. Manipulators of history must be stopped from marketing fallacies as truths.
Starting his early burst into limelight during the counter coup of July 28, 1966, the short clip states that Danjuma, a man of controversies and power, led troops that arrested Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, and his host, Col Adekunle Fajuyi who were eventually killed. One fact stands out: Danjuma only led troops to arrest Ironsi over his alleged complicity in the January 15, 1966 coup, but he was batoned out of control by junior officers who rebelled against his command and arrested Ironsi and Fadeyi.
Another delusion contained in the video is involvement by Danjuma in the killing of hundreds of civilians in the Asaba Massacre during the civil war. Any reader can confirm this falsehood by goggling, ‘Asaba Massacre during Nigerian Civil War’. The undeniable fact pops up as Danjuma was never in Asaba during the war.
Linking Danjuma to the July 29, 1975 coup that sacked General Yakubu Gowon from power is purely imbecilic. Narratives from various books reveal that Danjuma, then a General Officer Commanding (GOC) in Jos, was only informed of the coup on July 28, less than 24 hours to Zero Hour. Lindsay Barrett’s ‘Danjuma: Making of a General’ among other narrations, recalls when one of the coup plotters, Col Ibrahim Taiwo, visited Danjuma in Jos and pleaded with him to remain neutral. The plotters knew that if the then GOC moved against them, the coup execution would have encountered a wall of resistance. After being convinced that the coupists had left no stone unturned to ensure a bloodless military takeover, the man whose heroism and courage is never in doubt allowed them to have their way.
For the video to state that Danjuma was in Kampala, in Uganda, to arrest General Gowon who was then attending the meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at the time the coup was staged, demonstrates the ignoble height of ignorance and revolting desperation for enthroning fiction over truth. General Murtala and Danjuma were never involved in the July 1975 coup; they were only handed power by junior officers who insisted that power be shared among Murtala, Obasanjo and Danjuma in order to avoid the emergence of an Idi Amin in Nigeria.
A deplorable statement in the clip was that Danjuma was alleged to be behind the killing of General Murtala in 1976. The role of Danjuma, during and after the Col Buka Suka Dimka-led coup, has never been in the realm of incomprehensibility. How could Danjuma, who was one of the targets of the coupists, be said to be behind the assassination of the Head of State? I don’t know what the producers of the clip intended to achieve with such a blatant falsehood that is in complete variance with documented history.
Danjuma is described as being enmeshed in controversies and scandals, but the clip does not elucidate. When the clip alleges, without any shred of proof, that he stole oil money amounting to billions of dollars in the 1970s, I ask the question: When did General Danjuma venture into the oil business? Could someone who was involved in the management of the army be involved in pilfering oil resources? It is a fact that when Danjuma retired from the Army, he struck a business relationship with Igwe Matthias Nwafor Ugochukwu and learned the rudiments of business acumen. He would eventually sail into the high seas of business ventures where he made a huge fortune.
The viral but dubious video clip, in all intents and purposes, is to degrade Danjuma’s professional excellence in the military. Danjuma remains a Northern Star in the firmaments of Nigeria’s leadership. In and out of government, he has demonstrated an unparalleled devotion to the defence of fellow citizens, especially the less privileged. With his TY Danjuma Foundation, the former man of battle, now a lover of peace and development, is a recipient of many honours, including the ‘Gam Gbaro Donga’, ‘Abonta of Kwararafa’, ‘Jarmai Zazzau, ‘Ochiagha of Obowu-Etiti’ and ‘Ajagunla of Akure’ among other titles from other ethnic nationalities. In recognition of his service to the country, the Federal Government conferred him with the national award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) as a mark of honour. He remains Nigeria’s indisputable Elder Statesman whose contributions to national development are persistently undiminished.
When he zoomed past four scores and three years penultimate Saturday, the commissioning of projects built by the TY Danjuma Foundation is reflective of a determined cause to change the narrative of a nation that is so blessed, but still suffers from crippling poverty and descended into the global headquarters of poverty. Through his business outfits, he provides jobs to thousands of citizens and is engaged in re-writing the story of despair afflicting the Nigerian society.
In the decades to come, these blind and lying bats that are envious of the Danjuma footprints must be prepared to encounter sleepless nights. As these bats of envy rise their faces unto death, the legacies of the man they love to hate will outlive their chicaneries in a thousand years to come.
