TY Danjuma: How the mighty have fallen
One of the most disappointing events related to the Buhari Administration’s strenuous efforts to overcome the serious security challenges in the country was the shocking emergence of General TY Danjuma, not as the respected and patriotic elder statesman he was known to be, but as a war mongering ethnic champion. Up till now Nigerians are […]
One of the most disappointing events related to the Buhari Administration’s strenuous efforts to overcome the serious security challenges in the country was the shocking emergence of General TY Danjuma, not as the respected and patriotic elder statesman he was known to be, but as a war mongering ethnic champion.
Up till now Nigerians are yet to recover from the inciting outbursts of the retired General when he drifted from a convocation address at the Takum University and launched an angry and alarming attack against the Nigerian Army, accusing it of aiding and abetting the mass killings of innocent people across the country and urging Nigerians to take up arms to defend themselves instead of relying on the troops.
Due to his reputation as a nationalist war-time hero and elder statesman, some people were reluctant to dismiss his unexpected utterances as the ranting of a senile ex-serviceman in the belief that he must have tangible evidence before going public, even though he was also expected to use his privileged access to the highest echelons of government for such sensitive security information if indeed it was true.
However, when the military authority set up an inquiry to ascertain the genuineness of General Danjuma’s disturbing allegations and invited him to do the needful, he refused to show up as confirmed in the report of the inquiry which also found no basis for the allegations and even revealed a series of activities indicating ulterior motives and unpatriotic posturing by some of the General’s kinsmen against the success of the operations of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies.
Against this background, General TY Danjuma’s reputation as an elder statesman and respected icon of gallantry and patriotism of the Nigerian Army plunged to the depths of ignominy in the estimation of majority of Nigerians. As if ashamed of himself, the retired general retreated from public attention and remained dumb even as he came under a barrage of condemnation and ridicule from enraged Nigerians. How could a retired general of Danjuma’s standing engage in incitement against the same Army that earned him national honour? How could such an elder statesman provoke people to take the law into their own hands? Why is General Danjuma fuelling more security challenges when should be assisting government to restore normalcy?
All these questions have now been answered by the latest breaking news that General TY Danjuma who rendered himself inaccessible to the Army inquiry into his disturbing allegations has turned up in Washinton, USA where he instead secured audience with the Trump Administration’s Policy Think Tank no doubt to continue his nefarious mission of spreading disturbing allegations against the army of his fatherland as well as creating the false impression that his people are victims of ‘ethnic cleansing.’ Obviously, General Danjuma is intent on misleading the world and orchestrating hostile foreign reaction to his false propaganda against Nigeria.
Since Danjuma deliberately shunned the inquiry it is reasonable to conclude that he had no evidence for his wild allegations and this was further buttressed by the statement at the unveiling of the report of the inquiry by Nuhu Angbazo, Chief of Military/Civil Affairs that: “with respect to the statement by Lt.-Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, it is clear that the allegations were not true. There is a need to urge for caution on the part of the elder statesman in view of the security implication of such comments,’’ adding that there was “sustained media campaign to belittle Nigerian army and other security agencies’ operation in the state’’.
General Danjuma lends credence to the findings of the army inquiry about media campaigns against the nation’s defence and security operations in Taraba State by going to a university convocation which would attract maximum media coverage to launch his false propaganda and then rushing to the US to mislead global media. In Nigeria however events following his outrageous outbursts including the details of the army inquiry report point unequivocally to the reality of concerted efforts by Danjuma’s kinsmen led by Governor Darius Ishaku to compromise the military operations and their commanders in order to deprive the overwhelmed minority settlers in the community of the protection against sustained deadly aggression that halted their annihilation.
The US embassy in Nigeria is bound to provide verifiable facts and figures contrary to the unsubstantiated allegations of General Danjuma who sought to disguise his clannish motivation by contriving a non-existent “International Committee on Nigeria (ICON)”as a camouflage for infiltrating the Trump Policy Think Tank whereas he and Governor Darius who accompanied him were clearly on A a Jukun junket. The unwarranted labelling and threats against the Buhari Administration and Nigeria arising from the campaign of calumny by Danjuma and his fellow travellers cannot stand the test of time and truth.
It is a pity that General Danjuma’s otherwise illustrious life as a Nigerian elder statesman attained after a glorious military career will now be remembered for the most unpatriotic actions and utterances mischievously intended to plunge the country into murderous mayhem while he scampers to his many foreign abodes to escape the calamity he brought upon his own people, pretending to be their messiah. Fortunately, by his own acts of commission and omission and the undeniable reality on ground, he will eventually be the only casualty of his senile senselessness.
Gunki wrote this piece from Mubi, Adamawa State.