Theophilus Y. Danjuma’s 70th Birthday Celebration
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By Erasmus Uche Ikedilo
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Sometimes one finds causes to question this
administration’s claim to honest, humble, transparent
and exemplary service to the people. For all intents
and purposes the sponsorship and participation in a
lavish birthday celebration for a retired army general
by top notchers in this same regime is not only at
variance with that claim but highly hypocritical. Take
a review of this story.
A couple of months ago, late last year 2007
to be near exact, a very costly 70th birthday
celebration for retired General T.Y.Danjuma was
organized, covered and beamed by the NTA international
to viewers both at home and abroad. As ostentatious as
the entire day’s programme was, virtually anybody who
is somebody in Abuja and Lagos, military and civilians
alike was recognizable in that august gathering. There
are many questions, Nigerians need to demand answers
to. (1) Even if the celebration was self-funded, why
should the Yar’Adua-led government be complacent with
the funding if this chief celebrant’s implication in
the looting of Nigeria’s economy as published in 1999
by the world bank, undeniably remains an open secret?
(2) Why allow the celebration be televised, displayed
publicly- nationally and internationally? (3) Who is
Theophilus Danjuma both as a career soldier and as an
administrative officer that would warrant such honour?
This arm-chair general T.Y. Danjuma never was reported
as field commander/officer or even shown up left alone
firing a shot in any war theatre around the continent
, not even in any of the peace missions in the sub
regional war-engulfed nations of Liberia, Sierra leone
or Ivory Coast. Yet one ignorant woman “master of
ceremony” in an attempt to impress the ever insatiable
chief celebrant disappointingly and fallaciously
described him as an honest humble and gallant soldier.
What a shameful irony?{t is even surprising that this
time around the General did not protest the use of a
woman as master of ceremony like he did at Ohafia,
Abia state in the late seventies during his inspection
tour of military installations around the country. It
will be recalled that this very Danjuma during a
welcome ceremony arranged by the management and staff
of J.C. Okeke Builders, the company that built the
army barracks at Ohafia, arrogantly openly and loudly
refused to accept the souvenir the innocent female
worker presented to him and yelling out that he never
accepted the involvement of women in his affairs.
Ofcourse he was quickly called to order when he was
also openly confronted by that company’s general
manager now late, with the question “Did you ever
publish your lifestyle in the dailies”? Perhaps now
that he has taken off the khaki and replaced it with
his native Dan chiki and Baba Riga, his lifestyle may
have reverted to a point where women are very free to
come and go.
If plotting and murdering in cold blood his superior
military confidants and commanders like the
detribalised first military head of state late General
J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi and the first military governor
of the defunct western region of Nigeria late Lt.Col.
Francis Adekunle Fajuiyi and being a conspirator in
the assassination of yet another nationalist though
military head of state General Murtala Mohammed, show
honesty and gallantry and consequently qualified him
for that honour, I am sure that no responsible,
reliable soldier envies him. But let it be clear to him
that those who tread by the sword, die by the sword.
Also if excelling in looting the country’s economy as
reported by world bank’s 1999 publication is another
consideration for honouring this cowardly vampire
formerly hidden under the cloak of defenders of
Nigeria’s territorial integrity, how then does the
present leadership convince even itself that
corruption eradication is foremost in it’s programme?.
(4) In a country such as ours where over 50% of the
population fall within the poverty range, why
demoralize the same unfortunate citizens by those
ostentatious displays of affluence on the television
that is watched even in very remote towns and villages
of the country? Is this therefore not a deliberate
effort to further frustrate the already frustrated
less priviledged?
Moreover people must never wash their dirty
linens in the public. Why must such a base television
coverage be beamed outside the country and especially
to nations of class in the Americas and Europe? How
often do we watch on CNN etc. birthday celebrations of
even presidents and prime ministers much less military
officers? It is just shameful that even at long past
age 40 we are yet to identify and avoid things that
are unhealthy for Nigeria. No wonder President George
W. Bush of USA deliberately shunned Nigeria by
excluding it in his itinerary for the recently
concluded six day visit to five African countries
including Nigeria’s closest neighbours, the Republic of
Benin. The naked truth is that most nations of the
world are still not convinced about the difference if
any between the present administration of Yar’Adua and
it’s corruption-laden predecessor regime of his mentor
and political father Olusegun Obasanjo; for after all
it is a known fact and often said that anything born
of a tiger must be wild. But this administration can
still dispute this belief by setting up and
maintaining a corruption-free administration
consistent with the theory of mutation which in
simplistic rhetoric stipulates that a tiger could
produce a harmless offspring and therefore that
Obasanjo’s political son could be honest and
corruption-free.
Well it is now left to President Yar’Adua and
his vice Jonathan, to carve a name for themselves by
cleaning up the garbage littered around the country
and not just believing that only paying lip service to
democratic process was enough to buy them foreign
admirers. No! when real democracy is implemented in a
country, it speaks loud and clear for even the
disabled to acknowledge. The leadership must of
necessity not succumb to any form of intimidation by
any single or group of Nigerians, military or civilian
because power and control of it are rested squarely in
the tight grips of the presidency, to a limited extent
the national assembly and the judiciary which check
excesses of the executive before they get out of hand.
The people to whom collectively that power really
belongs make a final decision. As custodians of this
power/control, the presidency is therefore accountable
to the people by taking the blame for failures and
credit for all successes. This is why no single
Nigerian like Theophilus Danjuma should be allowed to
impact the judgement of the people-mandated
leadership.
Erasmus Uche Ikedilo
Maryland, USA
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