By Emmanuel Bello
If you thought Gen TY Danjuma spoke passionately and emotionally when he recently made his now famous “collusion” speech, then you need to have heard Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku today, Thursday, 12th April, 2018, Government House, Jalingo. He was simply phenomenal and, in the language of our hip hop artistes, “killed it”. You may call it a “White Thursday” given the import of the mesaage and the glorious way it was delivered. On my part, this is the second most impassioned speech I’ve heard this governor gave extemporally. The first was many years ago- three years to be precise- when he made a case for the “cabal” cause. That was in Abuja and before a former speaker Ghali Naaba led team that was looking into the Taraba crisis at the time. The governor, then candidate Darius, made such an impassioned appeal to the group that every one present instinctively kept silent for 5 minutes. I was in a corner of the room in that conference office at upscale Maitama and thought to myself that I’ve never heard such a case against UTC before.
Oratory is not a new field to Governor Darius, but he raised the roof today. Governor Darius was responding to the address by leader of the fact finding mission sent by the Army to investigate the accusations by General TY Danjuma. Don’t forget that the former minister of defence has slammed the military, accusing it of colluding with armed bandits. Leader of the delegation, Brigadier General Nimyel, in his speech, noted that Danjuma’s speech was capable of eroding faith in the military in Taraba and in the nation. He said their mission was to ascertain if there indeed was any case of collusion between the military and the herdsmen wrecking havocs. Nimyel finished his speech and it was the turn of Governor Darius to speak. His very countenance betrayed deep emotions. He started by thanking the team for coming and said the state would cooperate with it to achieve their aim.
Then he dropped the bombshell: the governor said he as a person stands with General Danjuma and that the entire state is solidly behind the General’s swipe at the security agents. He said he has aligned himself with the General given the personality of the former Chief of Army Staff. The governor noted that General Danjuma is not known for flippant statements or flimsy outbursts. So for him to make such a damning statement, there must have been alot of thinking behind it. He said, “I believe when a man of General Danjuma; a man who has sacrificed alot in this institution; respected globally; a man who hardly talks, when a man like that makes this kind of statement, I believe it is a matter of deep concern.”
The governor noted that he has friends in the Armed Forces of the country and has a lot of respect for the agency. He said Taraba is not at war with the military but seeks fairness and professionalism from it. He said that a situation where the military appears to be taking sides is intolerable. According to him the military in Taraba recently decided to disarm civilians but alas the exercise was one sided. He said, “how do we explain a situation where people with kitchen knives were “disarmed” but the herdsmen kept their big guns and continue to kill?”
He decried a situation where all his calls for support from the Armed Forces was ignored, noting that it was dishonest to say Taraba state government did not complain. According to him, his style was different from others as he doesn’t like to make such matters a media one.
He appealed to the military to save lives. He said, “we have come to the point where we have to decide if we want a country. I don’t know what to do other than to beg on my knees. I’m on my knees.Please save us and be very firm and fair. It is not your job but you have been trusted with it. Elsewhere in the world or even the American constitution that we didn’t copy properly, soldiers hardly carry out such duties. It is the job of the local police from the counties to the state levels.
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