Dr. Wunmi Akintide

WUMIONE@aol.com

 

I am aware that a few of my friends who like to judge people, not so much by the total picture, but by one or two errors of omission or commission, are going to start throwing arrows at me for describing General T.Y. Danjuma as a hero. I have had one of my good friends from Obosi in the South East describe the General as a villain for being the arrow head of the gang of coup plotters that ambushed General Aguiyi Ironsi in 1966 at the Agodi  State House of the late Governor of Western Region, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi. While I concede that my good friend certainly has a point to resent the General for that reason. I don't, however, consider myself bound by such mundane sentiments in  taking a more dispassionate look at this General who has remained, in and out of Government, as one of the movers and shakers of policy in our country for close to 50 years now. 

Such sentiments would not deter me a bit because just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, whatever impressions of this  great Nigerian soldier and business mogul that I convey in this article is borne out of my own informed  knowledge of his track record, first as a soldier and then as a politician and Federal Minister and then as business man and Chairman of no less than 50 Fortune 500 companies and multinationals in Nigeria at one point in his life. I also base my appraisal and assessment of him and his contributions to our nation on his current role as an elder statesman and a total detribalized Nigerian who believed he has reached a point in his life when the best he can do for his name and reputation and for the whole country at large is to speak the truth without any fear of favor.

Once upon a time, late Obafemi Awolowo as the preeminent Leader of Opposition in our country was the one who used to play that role. In those days when Awolowo spoke the whole nation and the whole world listened because they knew that Awolowo has credibility as a leader and as a first class politician and elder statesman. Ibrahim Babangida gave the greatest affirmation of that attribute when he described Awolowo on his 76th and last birthday on Earth, as "the great divide in Nigerian Politics. You are either for or against Awolowo" Like a colossus, Awolowo used to dominate Nigerian Politics and he used to set the pace for other leaders to follow and he would, forever live in the hearts of our people. I guess you could say the same thing or something close to that in assessing General Danjuma and his influence or leverage on our Military, on Nigerian Politics and the private sector of our economy as a whole.

I view this article as a well deserved tribute to the great General for filling the void that great Nigerians like Awolowo, Aminu Kano, Tai Solarin. Papa Alfred Rewane and others have left behind for patriotic Nigerians like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Balarabe Musa, Abubakar Rimi, Bala Usman and others who have picked up the challenge  to speak for the downtrodden in our society. General Danjuma ranks among the best soldiers that our nation has so far produced. You give Danjuma an assignment, he carries it out with military precision and discipline regardless of  any obstacles. You can count on him to complete any mission given to him. even it means losing his own life in so doing.

He sure belongs to a different kettle of Fish from General Ibrahim Babangida for example. They are both soldiers alright, and they both take the same oath and they both rise to the highest rank that our Military could offer, but they are totally different in their persona and modus operandi. If you don't believe me, I will tell you a little story that clearly differentiates their style as comrades in arms.

Danjuma, as I said before, had led the group that tried to get General Aguiyi Ironsi arrested while paying a state visit to Adekunle Fajuyi at Ibadan in 1966. The mission was to arrest the Commander-in Chief, and if he resisted, the plan was to deal with him the military way. "Iron Side" as Ironsi was fondly called in the Military did not only resist arrest, he tried to fight back just his host the pioneer military Governor of the old Western Region,  Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi,  at the risk of death, had bluntly refused to co-operate telling the coup plotters he would rather die than allow his guest to be so humiliated. Fajuyi, a hero of heroes, and a true son of Odua would not allow the Yorubas to be implicated in the death of his Commander-in-Chief  who happens to be an Ibo man.

I was not there but the story was told about how Fajuyi had stood his ground saying that if the soldiers took Ironsi, they would have to take him as well. It was a profile in courage rarely seen in our Military. The coup plotters meant business and so were their victims. Before you could say Jackie Robinson, the shots rang out instantly killing Ironsi and Adekunle Fajuyi in a barrage of bullets. A Yoruba soldier had given up his life in an effort to save the life of his Ibo Commander-in-chief. If the coup plotters had not struck, we would never have known that Adekunle Fajuyi was a solid gold of a man, and a man for the ages.

One myth about History is that it keeps repeating itself whether you like it or not. The coup led by Colonel Dimkar would  possibly have succeeded with the assassination of Murtala Mohammed in broad day light, not too far from the Federal Secretariat Complex at Alagbon Close in Ikoyi, a stone throw from my office at the time. I actually heard the shots from the AK 47 and the Uzi machines as they sprayed Murtala's Mercedez Benz in a hail of bullets. For a moment, Dodan Barracks was in disarray as the number 2 man, Obasanjo, fearing for his life, had momentarilly gone into hiding leaving Danjuma to step in and take control by despatching Ibrahim Babagida to go flush out Dimka and his gang by whatever means it took, even if it meant bombing their situation office and killing everybody.

Rather than bomb the whole premises into rubbles, IBB's approach was to engage Dimkar in a dialogue while urging him to give up his arms and surrender. It was another act of courage on his part, but his own kind of courage was quite different from Danjuma's when he led the group that struck at Ibadan. That little dialogue with Dimka, however, provided a window of opportunity for Dimka and his gang to escape from Lagos until they were later cornered and captured.

I recall this story to plead some understanding for Danjuma who was only obeying the last command when he moved against Ironsi and Adekunle Fajuyi. I think it will be wrong therefore to use that episode alone as the only premise for passing judgment on Danjuma and his place in our country's history. Those who understand military protocol would understand that Danjuma merely carried out an order handed over to him by his superior officer. He had no wiggle room to argue or say "No"  You obey first and them complain later, if you are still alive. I know some argue that staging a coup by itself is a serious felony and should be condemned. Yeah right. Easier said than done in a country that has been ruled by the Military for no less than 28 years out of her 46 years of Independence. If we are going to engage in the business of condemnation, we would spend eternity doing so, not only for Danjuma, but for his fellow comrades in arm which include our current President and so many others that have shot their way into power in our country.

I think General Danjuma had done what he had to do, and his meteoric rise thru the ranks surely bear an eloquent testimony to the fact that he was a great soldier.. What impresses me the most, however , was his self effacing attributes as a leader. His colleagues, including our current President know that Danjuma is a straight shooter who does not prevaricate or engage in double talk. With Danjuma, what you see is what you get. As former Chief of Staff in the Army, he was a soldier to the core  Danjuma calls it like he sees it. If he was really interested in becoming Head of State, he would have accomplished  that long time ago, because he was highly respected by the rank and file of the Military as a squeaky clean General who could lead the country.

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 celebrity on going into the private sector. He was so much sought after, that he became Chairman or member of the Board of Directors to so many Fortune 500  companies in Nigeria, because they respect him and because they believe he could use his untarnished influence with Government to give them access and to increase their profit margin. Above all, he is smart, intelligent and resourceful. His tenure as the Chairman of Guinness Nigeria PLC had placed the Nigerian branch of that premier industry on the world map, making it the most valued production factory outside their main outfit in Dublin.

The quality of Guinness Liquor fabricated in Nigeria is said to be among the best in the world. The duo of General Danjuma as Chairman of Guinness, and Chief Ralph Adeola Alabi as Managing Director has managed to profoundly transform the entire industry while their margin of profit and dividends to shareholders have been hitting the roof from year to year. If you think Guinness has performed wonders under General Danjuma's leadership, wait till you hear the assessment of other commercial and industrial ventures presided over by General Danjuma.

I am not going to waste your time listing them one by one, but I am going to focus on his transformation of Afri Bank as one of the engines that drive the Nigerian economy. General Danjumah is as smart and resourceful as they come. His Oil Prospecting Company is one of the most economically viable in Nigeria. It is able to favorably compete with some of the Multinationals like Mobil, Esso, AGIP and Shell to mention a few.

General Danjuma has shattered all the stereotypes and carricatures of the average Northerners as  mind-boggling spendthrifts whose problem is not how to make money but how to spend it. He easily ranks among the best business men to ever come from the North like the Dantatas and the Dangotes of this world who today hold the ace on the Nigerian Economy in the northern sector, if not in the whole country. General Danjuma is a class act coming from the Military which is only supposed to know how to pull the trigger.

This General is a genius at making money and creating employment opportunities for the rank and file of Nigerians by not taking his money abroad. All his investments are based in Nigeria. He has served Nigeria to the best of his ability in every position he has found himself. He did fight in the Biafran Civil War to preserve the territorial integrity of our nation. As Chief of Staff in the Military he made sure that the Military was not politicised under his watch, and as Federal Minister of Defense, he had helped Obasanjo to keep an eye on the Military and to make it that much harder for any ambitious soldiers to want to lead a mutiny or rock the boat and destabilize our country like many of them have done. He had done that  thru a  far-reaching system of decentralization never before witnessed in our country. If you now want to stage a successful coup in Nigeria, you have got to factor in the whole country into your equation, not just a cross section.

The fact that a coup succeeds in Lagos does not guarantee its success in Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin City, Calabar and Ibadan. If the nucleus of the military scattered all over the country does not fully cooperate, forget it. One of the greatest deterrent to a coup plotters is the fear of being detected or busted before they strike. Why? Because they all know the ultimate consequence. It is facing the firing squad in broad day light, and few soldiers ever want to face that eventuality.

What is so unique about General Danjuma is his lack of personal ambition. That is one trait that clearly separates him from his fellow Northerners who always want to be king and king maker at the same time. Danjuma is only interested in becoming a king maker, and he is very good at playing that role, I might add. If he has nursed the ambition, he is one man who should have been made a Head of State a long time ago  because of his pedigree in the military and because his colleagues knew he would perform, and they knew he is an unrepentant disciplinarian who would effectively deal with the drug dealers and drug barons in the military. As a Christian Northerner he would be acceptable not only to the North but to the South in much the same way like General Yakubu Gowon.

He enjoys the same aura of respectability as General Idiagbon and General Buhari. The only difference is that General Danjuma has always been very consistent.. If he was in the shoes of  General Buhari at the time the 250 suitcases filled with foreign currency were suddenly cleared by the Nigerian Custom because the Aide camp to General Buhari was involved, Major or Captain Jokolo would have been fired with immediate effect by Danjuma without any question. General Danjuma is that strict and unbendable in his principles.

He was one of the king makers that made it possible for Obasanjo to come back the second time to rule Nigeria for another eight years. He not only supported Obasanjo, he had bankrolled his election back into office. He was virtually commandeered by Obasanjo to agree to serve in his Cabinet as Defense Minister because Obasanjo knew that a reorganization of the Nigerian Military of his dream was impossible without his input. Left to Danjuma alone, he would have preferred to remain in the background quietly pulling the levers of power without anybody taking notice. That was vintage Danjuma who knows how to play in the big league better than most of his peers.. Despite the bond between him and Obasanjo, he was among the first to openly break rank with Obasanjo when he was persuaded that Obasanjo was going overboard and behaving like a dictator.

He also broke away from Obasanjo over his attempt to seek a third term. He told Obasanjo it was a bad idea from the "get go" and that he would not stand with him, and he did so with the persistence of a demon. He had told Obasanjo it was not enough to pretend to be a Saint when everything you are doing seem to reveal the handiwork of the devil.To be credible you have to practice what you preach. Danjuma had seized every opportunity he has had  to openly criticize Obasanjo and the way he has been running the PDP.

He once admitted in a Press interview that if his wife Daisy, currently a Senator in Nigeria, has voted for the third term agenda, he would ask for a divorce. If you think that was a joke, you simply don't know the General.

I knew General Danjuma more by reputation when I started out my career as Assistant Secretary (Army) in the Ministry of Defense at Republic Building along Marina, Lagos  Late Yusuf Gobir,  the dapper don attorney from Ilorin was Permanent Secretary, and Mr. B.G, Popo a fine gentleman from Warri was Deputy Permanent Secretary. Mr. S..A Ogunleye from Ijebu Ode was Senior Assistant Secretary (Army) and Vincent Bello was Senior Assistant Secretary (Air Force) while my good friend, T.P.Enodien from Cross River, as was Assistant Secretary Grade 1 or acting in that capacity. Late General Agbazikah Innih from Ika Ibo, was Military Secretary and I. O.S. Nwachukwu, the unflappable, eloquent Ibo guy, with a Fulani accent, was Deputy Military Secretary. General Danjuma who was a Captain or Major at the time used to frequent our office.

The late Murtala Mohammed was, at the material time, the Chairman of the Recruitment Panel for senior military officers starting from the rank of a second Lieutenant. I was the Secretary to that panel and that was how I came to know Murtala Mohammed very closely. One thing I knew was that Murtala used to have a very soft spot for Danjuma. He called him by first name, and you can see he truly respected or admired him for a reason I could not fathom at the time.

I came to know the General better, however, when my uncle the late Deji of Akure, Kabiyesi Ataiyese Adebobajo Adesida the IV invited me to help craft a citation to be read at the General's investiture ceremony at the Palace when he was offered a honorary chieftaincy title in the "Iare" Group of Chiefs in Akure. My uncle who was himself a Commissioner of Police before becoming the Deji, was aware I had to know him well from my days in the Ministry of Defense and he knew I kept a dozier on some of the top brass in our Civil Service and the Military. The first question I asked Kabiyesi was why was honoring the General? His answer was that General Danjuma was the best Northerner he has ever known 

General Danjuma as Chairman of Afri Bank had authorized the Headquarters in Lagos to fund the cost of tarring Isikan Street in Akure from Mosalashi junction to the junction of Isinkan and Ondo Road where the Head Office of the Bank is located in Akure. The Bank had taken the initiative as part of their plan to aid the economic development of the city in which they are based. General Danjuma was one of the brains behind that move, and he did it quietly without expecting any gratification from anybody. Kabiyesi the Iralepo of Isinkan, Oba Ojo was going to also honor the General, but Deji Ataiyese was the first to make the move.

I helped put together the citation based on all I knew about the General who is now an Akure Chief in good standing. As a matter of fact, the General as a preeminent Akure Chief is to be one of the Chief Launchers at the launching of the soon to be published autobiography of the greatest Deji of all time, Kabiyesi Alaiyeluwa Afunbiowo Adesida the First.

The book titled "THE LION KING AND THE CUBS" is authored by yours truly. The Book would make its debut in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of icon's exit from the throne of Akure. I can think of no one more qualified to be the chief launcher than our own General Danjuma who I call the "Jagunmolu" of Akure Land. I am making efforts to reach out to him on that assignment, using the good offices of Chief Ralph Adeola Alabi  

The recent address of the General to the whole nation before the Elections starting today in Nigeria is an eloquent testimony to what General Danjuma has become to Nigeria. He has become the very conscience of our nation and one of the unsung heroes of Nigeria. I urge  my readers to  go read the statement issued by the General on the eve of the elections starting today. If you do, you will appreciate why I call the General a hero and why his initials "T.Y." should really stand for "Thank You" Nigerians owe the General a debt of gratitude for his courage to call the bluff of this President and his PDP without mincing words. I admire the General. and I thank him.

I rest my case.

Dr.Wunmi Akintide