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Danjuma’s Repentence, Damage Already Done By Ibb And The Impending Failed State Of Nigeria By Mahamman Adarawa
The recent lecture by General TY Danjuma in which he confessed that his generation has destroyed the North and has nothing more to offer was a modest and courageous repentance.
In all fairness Gowon, Danjuma, Murtala and a few others like Shuwa, Haruna, Martin Adamu, and Ejoor had shown exceptional leadership qualities in saving the North and uniting Nigeria, especially during the events of 1966 and the ensuing civil war. Obasanjo only came to sign the surrender after Adenkunle had already secured the southern sector of the warfront. It was a historical fact that the ineptitude of General Ironsi in punishing the murderous indiscipline of Nzegwu and his fellow mutineers contributed to the subsequent events. However, Danjuma should refrain from opening healed wounds for the good of society. Gowon has managed post war reconciliation unparalleled in Africa with his three Rs (reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation.). When Gowon was eased out in a coup supported by the Murtala and Danjuma, they took measures to strengthen National and African unity, stop corruption and work towards a democratic rule. Murtala was subsequently assassinated, Danjuma among the three carried on to complete the final mission of restoring democratic rule after it was brutally interrupted by Nzegwu. Danjuma was also courageous in his fairness for fishing out Obasanjo from hiding and giving him power after the death of Murtala to ensure federal character in power sharing. Danjuma also ensured that those who assassinated Murtala had the punishment they deserved. This was despite the fact that most of the misguided officers like Dimka, Dabang, Gagara and Bissalla had hailed from the same middle belt as him.
Danjuma’s main problem was his inability to adapt to life outside the barracks after retirement. This led him to blunders like the inability to provide effective leadership in the Tiv/Jukun conflicts. Even in the larger middle belt politics, Danjuma has failed to provide leadership, apart from getting his protégés appointments in the past military governments of IBB and Abatcha. In the larger North, his politicisation of the Christian Association of Nigeria has not helped in unity and led to dangerous people like Dariye using the CAN to support genocides in Yelwan Shendam and Jos. CAN stooped so low that Obasanjo had to lecture them on morality! However, with election of Onayekan things have started improving. One would have expected a personality like Danjuma who had united Nigeria in his military years to have reconciled Tiv, Jukun and Kuteb. He should have ensured a good road from Takum/ Wukari to Jos and Abuja with a good bridge at Ibi. He should have advocated for infrastructural development of the middle belt and not only political appointments of just a few individuals. This is where he differed on one hand from Gowon and Buhari who refused to be drawn in to petty politics despite provocations and from IBB on another hand who made some infrastructural development in his home state before retiring despite his fascism. Thus Danjuma was a courageous and brave former Army General who helped in uniting Nigeria, but had a bit of maladaptation after retirement and his mistakes were not likely due to an evil intent, there fore his repentance is acceptable.
Unfortunately, for Nigeria, a few years after Danjuma handed over to civilians, indiscipline and corruption ensued and a former junior member of the Murtala/Danjuma regime namely General Buhari who was still in the army had to come in to prevent collapse of the country. Buhari was thus the last from the group of patriotic military leaders like Gowon, Murtala and Danjuma. Unknown to Buhari an overambitious, cunning and callous fifth columnist had a different agenda. While Buhari and Idiagbon were busy jailing corrupt politicians and waging a war against indiscipline, the fifth columnist was busy plotting together with the corrupt politicians as well as his foreign backers to overthrow the regime and reverse the gains for his selfish interest. IBB had mentored Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso to play similar betrayal tactics in which Thomas Sankara paid the supreme sacrifice. Thus, after overthrowing Buhari/Idiagbon regime, the fifth columnist called IBB institutionalised fascism, accepted the enslaving IMF Loan and introduced a programme of suffering and penury called SAP. Such a cruel programme was un paralleled in Nigerian history. He also deliberately started useless debates to cause religious disharmony so that he can be an arbiter with the aim of prolonging his rule. IBB’s regime could only be compared to the regimes of Nguema in Equatorial Guinea, Marcos in Philippines, Pinochet in Chile and Mobutu in Zaire. Babangida’s fascism was supported by a group of army officers called IBB boys like Abatcha, Dogon Yaro, David Mark, Dangiwa Umar, Lawal Gwadabe, Onoja, Abdul mumini Aminu as well as a host of decadent intellectuals like Omuruyi, Henry Nwosu and others who use their intellectual prowess to justify IBBs misrule. IBB’s brand of fascism hinges on the trio of illegal amassing of wealth by any means while in government, elimination of real and imaginary enemies e.g. execution of Vatsa and assassination of Dele Giwa, Deception in governance e.g. arbitrary cancellation of elections and unnecessary prolongation of hand over dates. IBB’s corruption ate deep in to the army leading to vicious cycle of coup attempts and elimination of well-trained army and air force officers. Next, it has emboldened civil servants to take corruption as a religious duty. The vicious cycle of corruption gradually engulfed intellectuals, traditional and religious institutions. When forced to vacate power, he even taunted Nigerians saying he had just stepped aside. Abatcha and Abdusalam’s regimes each competed to show the world that they were more corrupt than their mentor was.
Corruption had so much blinded the stakeholders that it was easy for IBB to prey on their psychology at the latest return to civil rule in 1999. Armed with his guilty conscience of cancelling Abiola’s hard won election and illegally amassed wealth, he hoisted OBJ to the throne. In his calculation, OBJ would repay him in kind by not allowing him to be probed and hoped that Yoruba’s who were his most vocal opponents would be pacified. He was also conscious that without a Murtala or a Danjuma, Obasanjo would likely commit so much blunders that Nigerians will forget about the evil he perpetrated in the years gone by.
When OBJ came to power the second time, he was armed with vengeance not only against his Northern friends that forced a way for him to power, but also against the whole of Nigeria. He destroyed the few industries, strangled agriculture and took over Northern banks. He also sold away Nigeria’s heavy industries to his foreign partners, children and friends. While Northerners treated him with kid gloves because they were convinced that he is a psychopath that can kill, Statesmen and reasonable politicians from the south refused to accept his psychopathic tantrums and openly criticised him as they had done to Abatcha. No wonder many political casualties are from the south. In order to be shielded from prosecution for corruption and crimes against humanity, he forced Umar Yar’aduwa on the nation. Yar’aduwa was not at all ready for the presidency. He has no programme but to shield OBJ.
If the Supreme Court does not reverse the sham election or the shameful court of appeal verdict on the last presidential elections, then the nation will be heading towards the group of failed states. Already the nation exhibits signs of a failed state. Education is so much destroyed that people send their kids to Ghana! Nigeria is one of the countries with very high maternal mortality rates in the world. The agricultural sector is in shambles, Power supply at this moment is at its lowest despite trillions of naira spent by OBJ. Roads are riddled with potholes and no railways or metro service. OBJ was said to have stamped his feet on supply of gas to the North. Unfortunately, even when he left the scene his wish is religiously followed. The most worrying problem is persistent insecurity that defied any solution because of corruption and unmotivated security agencies. A corrupt judiciary that gives justice to the highest bidder as was seen in Justice Ogebe’s presidential election tribunal worsens this. Thus, Nigerians are trapped in a vicious cycle of corruption, poverty, insecurity, injustice and dilapidated services. All the above man-made problems directly or indirectly affect the environment. Lack of afforestation in the North has lead to relentless desertification. Soil erosion in the south and oil pollution in the Niger Delta has made Nigeria a laboratory of environmental degradation. There is also no will or capacity to implement a population policy.
In conclusion, Danjuma’s apology is welcomed, but it is unlikely to reverse the damage done by IBB and his henchman Abacha that was then perpetuated by Obasanjo and now his protégé Umar Yar’aduwa. Massive corruption, insecurity, dilapidated services, lack of institutional capacity, grinding poverty, unemployment, apathy, rapid population growth, uncontrolled urbanisation compounded by environmental degradation meant we are racing to become a failed state. The only factor that can stem the tide is if Justice Kutigi can convince his fellow judges at the supreme court to render good justice, shun mega bribes and save the country from the calamity of a failed state by courageously dismissing Yar’Aduwa and swearing in the next candidate who has not committed election rigging.
Yours faithfully,
Mahamman Adarawa. |