FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiSaturday, March 31, 2018
[email protected]
Bonn, Germany

ANALOG NIGERIA IN A DIGITAL AGE (7) (GEN. T. Y. DANJUMA'S SPECIAL)

Continued from Part 6

We remain essentially a nation under siege (Theodore C. Sorensen)

The smooth speeches of the wicked are full of treachery (Phaedrus)

If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem (Abraham Lincoln)

General T. Y. Danjuma's vituperation

his is a bombshell: The Bible, in Luke 21:28 (New International Version), says that "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Now, the "Saul" of Nigeria has finally become "Paul"; a persecutor is now feeling persecuted, so, whichever way, Nigeria can only get better as from 2019. Imagine that a former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), had on the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University, told Nigerians to defend themselves against killers, saying the Nigerian Armed Forces were not ready to defend them. This man has vindicated me and few others who have been "insulted" for writing about the truth. Danjuma's words at the Taraba State University are one of the best things which have happened to Nigeria since 1970.

Also, we learned that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Wednesday, March 28, ordered the immediate removal of Ali Janga, the police commissioner in Kogi State. Mr. Janga was removed alongside some other senior police officers in the state for their role in the alleged escape of some suspects who were arrested in connection to the ongoing case involving Dino Melaye, a senator from the state. Why didn't Buhari remove the Inspector General likewise for disobedience?

Danjuma had said, during the convocation, "There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state (Taraba) and of course, some rural states in Nigeria, we must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up. Our armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the bandits to kill people, kill Nigerians... If you are depending on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one."

Danjuma said all these without a script (not written), meaning that they came from the bottom of his heart. Things he has been seeing or experiencing lately have been paining him a great deal. But how can such things happen to the "almighty" Danjuma, one of the few owners of Nigeria?

How come that Danjuma, who put Nigeria into the mess it is today, is complaining now? What has come over T.Y. Danjuma lately that he has started disparaging the system that made him? Who is T.Y. Danjuma lately? T. Y. Danjuma is one of the richest Africans, and his wealth is mainly from oil. Forbes says that Theophilus Danjuma, a former Nigerian defense minister, is chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO), a Nigerian oil exploration company. In 2006, Danjuma sold an oil block he was given by the regime of former Nigerian President Sani Abacha to a consortium of Chinese investors for $1.7 billion. Nigeria's biggest philanthropist, he has endowed his private charity, the TY Danjuma foundation, with $100 million. He owns also NAL-COMET Shipping Company - one of the most successful indigenous shipping companies in Nigeria. It services include Oil Servicing, Terminal Operation, Underwater Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Supply and Installation.

Few weeks ago, Danjuma started complaining that Nigeria lacked the capacity to govern itself (untimely independence), insisting that the greatest challenge facing the country was corruption.

On Feb. 28, at the 42nd CVL Leader Without Title (LWT) Leadership Tribute Colloquium in honor of General T.Y. Danjuma @ 80, he, Danjuma, while describing leadership as humility and the ability to know one's limitations, lamented that the country had not fared better since independence in 1960. He also bemoaned the impunity in the country's public service, saying the decay set in after the nation's independence. Hear him:

"I remember that in the mid-1980s during the second Republic, the late Governor Sam Mbakwe of Imo State one day while lamenting the excesses of his opponents stated that British colonial rule was too brief for Nigerians to learn the art and science of governance". I disagreed with that assertion because all the institutions of government that the British colonial administration left behind in 1960 functioned very effectively. The rot began to set in only after our independence with the rapid 'Nigerianisation' of public service, selective application of sanctions and lately, impunity in our public service have gone viral. This is why things are getting worse than ever. Health and education are not the greatest challenges facing our country; our greatest challenge today is corruption."

I've tried to write something about Danjuma's diatribe above, before now, but time constraints prevented me from publishing it until now he has just released another bombshell. I will take the two all at once.

Above, T.Y. Danjuma was talking about corruption and how Nigeria has failed. He should have known why. He's what's wrong with Nigeria. He created or emboldened most of Nigeria's problems. Verily, verily, I say to you that no other Nigerian has caused so many problems for Nigeria like T.Y. Danjuma. Infact, if you think of it, most of the problems besetting Nigeria today can be traced to Danjuma's doorstep. Nigeria started going down the drain when Gowon became the head of state, and Danjuma facilitated it. The ascendancy of Gowon unleashed mediocrity, nepotism and impunity in Nigeria and the country is still suffering from all these and more till this day.

When Danjuma supervised the killing of the then head of state, General Aguiyi-Ironsi, a man who entrusted him with his life, he sent Nigeria on the unstoppable free fall into the dark abyss. The gruesome killing of General Aguiyi-Ironsi heightened the already existing ethnic animosity, and that eventually led to the civil war, and will eventually lead to the breakup of Nigeria.

Talking about corruption: When T.Y. Danjuma was allotted more than three oil wells, which were supposed to be the people's properties, what else can be more corrupt or criminal than that? While many Nigerians can't make ends meet; can't live up to their responsibilities; and while millions are swimming in poverty, idleness, ignorance, hopelessness and misery, T.Y. Danjuma "stole" our oil wells. He sold one of the oil wells to a Chinese Oil Company for one billion dollars and then insulted Nigerians, the real owners of the oil well he sold, by saying that he does not know what to do with money again. We all are familiar with these infamous words - his fellow middle Belter and former head of state, Jack Yakubu Gowon, was the first to say that Nigeria has money but does not know what to do with it, and he went on to pay off other countries' debts, with the money he should have used in putting Nigeria on an industrial pedestal.

Because T.Y. Danjuma did not know what to do with the money from the oil well he sold, he gave half of the one billion dollars out (to whom? Only him knows), and he kept the remaining half. He said that he gave the money away because his children will not be able to manage it well.

When T.Y. Danjuma stole our oil wells, no matter how he got them, and who allotted them to him, he should have known that that's the height of corruption. If we're talking about corruption in Nigeria, T.Y. Danjuma should know that he personifies it, and is one of the most corrupt elements in Nigeria.

Look at how Danjuma and other criminal elements, like him, have turned Nigeria into a feudal state in this modern age. It's only in feudal societies that people's wealth, such as oil wells, mines etc, are given to highly placed individuals rather than the wealth being used for the good of all - few individuals are Lords because they're rich through the wealth made by divesting the people of their resources, while the majority, who're getting poorer and poorer, are termed the commoners. It was even alleged that his good friend, Sani Abacha, who must have allotted one of the oil wells to him, was doling out our oil wells with reckless abandon, as such that he even allotted some oil wells to women he slept with, based on their performance in bed. Imagine such things ever happening in Nigeria in this digital age.

Betrayal is T.Y. Danjuma's major trademark - it's in his blood. Apart from General Aguiyi-Ironsi, whom he was supposed to protect, as the head of his security, but had him killed; he also betrayed Goodluck Jonathan as the president. During the 2015 election campaign, Goodluck Jonathan saw in T.Y. Danjuma a father figure, and was confiding in him, informing him of what his campaign is doing - the strategies and plans, but Jonathan did not know that Danjuma was surreptitiously supporting Buhari while pretending to be on Jonathan's side, and was passing all Jonathan's campaign secrets over to Buhari's camp unbeknown to Jonathan's camp.

When it became apparent to Goodluck Jonathan that the election has been rigged against him, he then secretly asked Danjuma what he should do (not knowing that he supported Buhari), and he advised Jonathan to concede. After congratulating Buhari, Jonathan decided to visit Danjuma, to thank him for his support irrespective of the election's outcome. There, Danjuma falsely praised Jonathan for conceding, without Jonathan knowing that the man praising him worked against his re-election. Immediately Jonathan left, Danjuma started condemning Goodluck Jonathan and his government, boasting that he worked against his re-election, expressing his happiness with the outcome of the election. Danjuma did not wait for Jonathan to get back home, from his house, before he started stabbing him in the back. No betrayal can be worse than that. Danjuma made a mockery of Goodluck Jonathan.

Not through with backstabbing Goodluck Jonathan who trusted him, Danjuma asked Buhari, even prior to his take over, to probe Jonathan's government. The PM, on March 24, 2015 - five days prior to Buhari's inauguration, wrote that "a former Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, on Saturday urged the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari to probe the outgoing administration led by Goodluck Jonathan. The report quoted the former minister as describing the Jonathan administration as a "very corrupt" one bequeathing a more than $60 billion debt burden to its successor. Mr. Danjuma, the paper said, expressed anger at how the Jonathan government had, with its "financial recklessness", frittered away the nation's wealth, leaving the treasury almost empty. The former minister therefore advised Mr. Buhari to, on assumption of office, probe persons believed to be corrupt. Hear Danjuma:

"What we are hearing is that the treasury of the country is empty at the federal level. I'm calling on the new administration to investigate what happened to our monies as soon as Buhari takes over power on May 29. With that, some of the stolen funds would be recovered."

On April 16, 2015, according to Information Nigeria, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, said leaders in the northern parts of the country conspired and sabotaged the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan. In Umeh's words: "I don't know what he, Jonathan, went to his house to look for? He, Danjuma, may have deceived the President to believe that he supported him, but I am telling you, all the Northern leaders ganged up against the President".

Goodluck Jonathan trusted T.Y. Danjuma a lot while the latter ended up betraying him as usual. When Jonathan became the acting president in 2010, after the death of Yar'Adua, he setup a Presidential Advisory Council on the formation of policy for his administration to advise him on virtually all areas of governance, and he appointed, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma as the chairman, but I kicked against it then. On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, I wrote an article, published in this website. These were some excerpts from that article:

"The question becomes: Why Danjuma of all people? What can he bring to the job? Won't he still exhibit his deceitful tendencies here? For me, the appointment of Danjuma as head of the Advisory Council is wrong and is not justified in anyway. Danjuma is a political liability and his appointment is a wrong political move by the acting president. I hope he would not waste all his political capitals through wrong moves like this. The Acting President should be very careful; he should not commit blunders which will provide his traducers the munitions to "shoot him" down. Danjuma shouldn't have been a part of this government. A word is enough for the wise!"

https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/ubochi/030408.html

TIT BITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju8Hr50Ckwk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rywUS-ohqeE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AphKUK8twg

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

Continued from Part 6

Continued from Part 6

IMAGES IN THE NEWS