Gen. T.Y. Danjuma’s ‘tongue of fury’
By Tiko Emmanuel

Penultimate Sunday, The Guardian published its interview with General Theophilus Yakubu (T.Y. for short) Danjuma. By the time I was done reading the full text, I had concluded that the General possessed a ‘tongue of fury.’ Like the late legendary kung-fu exponent Bruce Lee whose ‘fist of fury’ single-handedly annihilated entire broods of fighters, Danjuma’s fiery mouth dealt devastating mortal blows to several high profile Nigerians – both the living and the dead! A great number of people, however, have been scratching their heads over why the retired General – who has been part of the ruling clique from time immemorial – should only now be vilifying the “rotten” system of which he has been a major beneficiary.

Danjuma can be forgiven for understandably acting like the cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow via his Canterbury Tales because in the not too distant past, the fear of T.Y. was the beginning of political and military wisdom. Maybe the whole thing centered on the fact that he was a taciturn, stone-faced top military officer whose bulging eyeballs behind thick horn-rimmed lenses made his penetrating gaze more fearsome. Expressed then, his outburst would have amounted to setting the cat among the pigeons – sparking many real and unfounded coup rumors and shooting spasms of cold jitters down the spine of whoever was running the government! The fact that the polity has carried on without a stir is proof that our democracy has outgrown its fledgling and nascent labels. But the largely negative press he continues to garner only goes to affirm the veracity of US. philosophical essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s contention that “Every hero becomes a bore at last.”

At a time the rosy predictions of the Iraqi invasion by the US. and its ‘coalition of the willing’ were going awry, then US. Secretary of Defense, Don Rumsfeld, had a verbal brainwave. “There are known knowns,” he quipped, “there are known unknowns, and there are unknown unknowns.” General Danjuma’s disclosures can be similarly pigeon-holed into these three major compartments.

Among the ‘known knowns’ are his take on the master-servant relationship between Aremu of Ota and Umoru of Katsina. Others would include his character judgment of both Aremu and Umoru, the state of corruption under Obasanjo and the failure of the National Assembly’s mandatory oversight responsibility over the Executive branch.

Among the ‘known unknowns’ would be President Yar’Adua’s retrogression from Baba go-slow to Baba standstill and that he (T.Y.) was eagerly looking forward with satisfaction to the next life whenever it comes – although the final place of abode hereafter still remains an ‘unknown unknown’ because only God can decide that. Danjuma’s surprising high praise of OBJ’s wartime heroics would also fall within this category. But given the benefit of hindsight, what initially seems like an aberration – Danjuma’s testament of OBJ – shouldn’t really come as a shock. The former president has proven himself to be a meticulous planner with a streak of pluckiness, daredevilry and luck.

Albeit, Nigerians must collectively thank the respected General for enriching pubic discourse with his valued personal experiences. My only regret is that he didn’t state his ‘own side’ of the story early on when all the emotions and explanatory factors were still fresh in his memory and when other principal characters were still alive to rebut the one-sided presentations. I have no doubts that the public would have been better served with the ‘idealism’ and youthful exuberance that guided Danjuma’s actions, especially as they related to the period between January – August 1966 and the post-Murtala period, if his planned memoir had been rolled out earlier.

T.Y. may not be the originator or the only guilty party but has anyone noticed that the ‘victims’ of the January 15, 1966 military putsch are always invariably ‘Northern’ officers while the ‘perpetrators’ are ‘Igbo’ officers (and that it is usually the irredentist pretenders to the throne who strive to be more catholic than the Pope)? The victims are never described as Hausa or Tiv or Kanuri or Igala, etc. But when it concerns those below the Rivers Benue and Niger, the nomenclature changes to Igbo or Yoruba or ‘Calabar,’ or Ijaw officers, among others, and never ‘Eastern’ or ‘Western’ or ‘Midwestern’! Thus, the alleged perpetrators of the first military coup are never described as Eastern officers but as Igbo, (although several non-Igbo and non-Eastern officers like Major Ademoyega, among others, were very much involved).

Gen. Danjuma lambasted a journalistic icon like Peter Enahoro (Peter Pan) as ‘foolish’ and ‘stupid’ for daring to canvass views he finds disagreeable. He didn’t end there. He also disclosed that “the Igbo officers eliminated the cream of the Army leaving behind absolutely useless people like Ironsi who was a desk-clerk Head of State.” I’m shocked beyond words. How could such a highly placed and powerful Nigerian jettison the cherished African tradition of not speaking ill of the dead? Great responsibility comes with great power and one would have expected the General to exercise greater restraint and discretion. The same man who wanted Peter Enahoro crucified for expressing ‘satanic’ thoughts now wants us to canonize him (Danjuma) for ventilating his own highly contentious viewpoint. What insufferable arrogance! Of course, Danjuma may choose to ride the high horse by insisting he’s only calling a spade a spade. But as the English poet and painter William Blake observed: “(Even) a truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent”!

I am equally nonplussed that an officer at the bottom-rung of the military pecking order – Danjuma was just a Major when Ironside was a two-star General (the first Nigerian ever) – could have the temerity to now use such vitriolic language to castigate his former Supreme Commander. This shows that the cankerworm of indiscipline has long eaten deeply into the fabric of our armed forces. Like all human beings, Ironsi definitely had his shortcomings (one of which was his naivety in ‘over-trusting’ the wrong people and another was his non-release of Chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison) but this is a man that received widespread international plaudits for his exemplary leadership of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the Congo (in the early 60s!). If the Igbo officers indeed eliminated the cream of the Army leaving only boneheads how come the two highest officers after Ironsi were Brig. Babafemi Ogundipe and Col. Adeyinka Adebayo (both Yoruba) – unless they too fell under the label of “useless people” (and was that why the former No. 2 man was bullied into accepting a ‘safe’ job as the High Commissioner to Britain)?

And what were Danjuma’s excuses for betraying his Supreme Commander? First, that young Northern military Turks like him “bottled up their anger” while waiting for the opportune moment to vengefully extract their pound of Igbo flesh. Secondly, that Garba Paiko, an army adjutant, woke him up at 1a.m. to reveal that Igbo officers, who were supposedly holding a furtive meeting, had all been ‘patriotically’ assassinated. This was the stimulus that Danjuma needed to, in his own glib words, “arrest Ironsi and lock him up and then interrogate him to find out the role he played in the coup.” And the man died! It is worth noting that the crusader who was so eager to humiliatingly arrest, lock up and interrogate a head of state just to pick his brain was the same person resolutely restraining his hysterical colleagues in the Supreme Military Council from demanding that Gen. Gowon be extradited from Britain for questioning on the basis of Col. Dimka’s confession because “it’ll just be Dimka’s word against Gowon’s.”

Left to me, T.Y. should be seeking penance for failing in his military duty – that of defending his commander-in-chief against all forms of aggression. In civilized climes, it is a capital offence for metaphorical rats to devour any fish – whether useless or nutritious – kept in their protective custody and I’m totally flummoxed by Danjuma’s inability to follow Col. Fajuyi’s immortal example.

When asked why he overruled the dissenting voices in the first post-Murtala meeting of the Supreme Military Council who wanted him – rather than OBJ – to become Head of State, T.Y. explained: “The Army functions on hierarchy. The moment you start disturbing the hierarchy, you run into all sorts of troubles.” Finally, a Daniel is come to judgment! All those who disparaged Ojukwu for “blanching” on “mundane” issues like military hierarchy when he should’ve focused on the “higher points of reconciliation” can now eat out their hearts. Finally, having evaluated Danjuma’s ‘tongue of fury,’ I can’t help wondering whether the events of January 15, 1966 alone could have caused his apparently incurable ethnocentric malady called Igbophobia.

Don't mind the bone head Danjuma. Those soldiers were killing corrupt Nigerians irrespective of tribal origins and then the brainless Hausa soldiers saw it as ethnic cleansing and decided to go one better, Kill Ironsi and every Igbo/Ijaw/Efik/Urhobo/'non-Yoruba or Hausa looking' person in the North.

When the Igbos reacted by forming a country, These wicked people decided to barricade the new country so that the genocide can be complete. If they hated the Non Yoruba/Hausa people why did they bother to force them back into their country?

He can say all the dirt he likes, after all Nigeria is a place where Human rights only exist on the pages of a book called 'The constitution' and newspapers.

Those soldiers were killing corrupt Nigerians irrespective of tribal origin

check ur fact again pls, Hw come no Igbo govt official was killed by Nzeogwu and his rascally bunch, is it that there were no corrupt ones, If the rascally bunch had done their work sincerely the ethnic distrust we suffer won't be here .now
check a bunch of young military officers of Igbo extraction kill two premiers out of three and surprisingly the one not killed is also igbo.

hmmm

1) Garba "Paiko" was the Adjutant of the 4th battalion at the time of the mutiny. I use "Paiko" with speech marks because that was not his real name. It was a code name being used by Lt Garba Dada. The name "Paiko" was a code name being bandied about by the northern soldiers who planned the mutiny. They would speak to each other in code about attending "Paiko's wedding" (a coded reference to the coup).

2) The most detailed accounts of what happened at Ibadan emerge from Danjuma, Ironsi's ADC Lt Nwankwo and the Eastern Region publication "Jan 15: Before and After". The main differences in the accounts are that Danjuma claims the mutineers pushed him aside and took over. In fairness Jan 15 also concedes that Danjuma was not physically present when Ironsi and Fajuyi were killed. It does claim though that Danjuma was originally in the convoy, but at a road intersection, whispered orders to the other soldiers, then waved on the vehicles carrying Ironsi and Fajuyi while he headed back to barracks. If you want to find holes, the unanswered question is how/who got him back to 4 bn barracks. He said he hitch hiked, who gave a lift to a mutinous grenade wielding soldier?

3) There were many other survivors from the siege at State House Ibadan - both military and civilian. I have their names.

4) Contrary to what Danjuma said, the officers meeting at the Abeokuta garrison was NOT attended solely by Igbo officers. That is patently not true. The garrison commander called a meeting of ALL officers irrespective of ethnic or religious origin. The officer that gathered others for the meeting was even a northerner. Some non-Igbo officers were also shot at Abeokuta. In fact one of the northern officers in the mess was accidentally shot in the melee. I have the names of the northern officers that attended the meeting.

There are different schools of thought:

a) Danjuma's account is true. Unfortunately the only people who can dispute it (Fajuyi and Ironsi) are dead.

b) What of the account in Jan 15? Is it reliable? Can it be believed given that it was released during a propaganda/physical war between the east and federals?

c) Maj-Gen Oluleye gave a different perspective. He agrees that Danjuma wasn't there when Ironsi and Fajuyi were killed but feels Danjuma departed after giving orders to the junior ranks about what should be done to Ironsi and Fajuyi. Not being physically present he could not be tainted by it. Luckham picks up on a similar theme. He said the officer in charge at Ibadan departed from the junior ranks on the pretext that he was going back to base to "get orders". He never gave the name of the officer in charge though.

The common demominator in all the accounts is that Danjuma wasn't there when they were killed. As to his actual culpability, we will either never know, or we will have to wait till the other survivors speak.

When Kaduna Nzeogwu went around with military officers of Ibo origin slaugthering Balewa, Akintola, Ahmadu Bello, Okotie-Eboh et al sparing Azikwe and Michael Okpara: what did you expect? Of course, It was an Ibo coup against all other Nigerian sections! T Y Danjuma with his bunch of miscreants responded albeit stupidly to the dog eat dog phenomenon then.

See all this is past! History. TY Danjuma, Obasanjo and all other actors in that shameless period of our history should rot in hell. Unfortunately they still have their grip of the Nigerian Project, re-awakening past bloodsheds and injustices they meted on each other which brought the Nigerian nation to her kness.

Nigerians I think deserve leaders who will change their fortunes. The old league has failed us misreably, It is time they leave the pages of our newspapers and political scene. Enough of all this talk and hatred, we need to move on!

the man has shown brazenly the sort of minds that occupied the top rungs in the nigerian military during his stint. it is utterly unbecoming of an officer in the military to talk such hog-wash abt his superior no matter the sentiments/emotions. he has further exposed himself as a shallow human being without a shred of shame nor honour.

abeg i no get much time for that bros .as he said in his lecture a few weeks ago his generation is a failure(that was his own words) so what form of decency can u expect from such a man that has proclaimed himself a failure?

Danmasani:

When Kaduna Nzeogwu went around with military officers of Ibo origin slaugthering Balewa, Akintola, Ahmadu Bello, Okotie-Eboh et al sparing Azikwe and Michael Okpara: what did you expect? Of course, It was an Ibo coup against all other Nigerian sections! T Y Danjuma with his bunch of miscreants responded albeit stupidly to the dog eat dog phenomenon then.

See all this is past! History. TY Danjuma, Obasanjo and all other actors in that shameless period of our history should rot in hell. Unfortunately they still have their grip of the Nigerian Project, re-awakening past bloodsheds and injustices they meted on each other which brought the Nigerian nation to her kness.

Nigerians I think deserve leaders who will change their fortunes. The old league has failed us misreably, It is time they leave the pages of our newspapers and political scene. Enough of all this talk and hatred, we need to move on!

I commend you on your idea of a united Nigeria.
I only fail to understand whether you are justifying the genocide on Igbos for what Nzeogwu individually did?
The so called reactions by Hausa and other Nigerians has left a big scare that is amendable. The reasons behind the action is still a mystery.
I could forgive what these guys did to my family during the war, but the massacre still go on in the north every year.
If some Nigerians cant live in other parts of Nigeria without fear of being butchered at the slightest provocation, then why the noise of "one Nigeria".

nuzo:

I commend you on your idea of a united Nigeria.
I only fail to understand whether you are justifying the genocide on Igbos for what Nzeogwu individually did?
The so called reactions by Hausa and other Nigerians has left a big scare that is amendable. The reasons behind the action is still a mystery.
I could forgive what these guys did to my family during the war, but the massacre still go on in the north every year.
If some Nigerians can't live in other parts of Nigeria without fear of being butchered at the slightest provocation, then why the noise of "one Nigeria".

I abhor violence by all means and I am ashamed and appalled each time fanatics in the North or South turn violent due to ethno-centric or religious reasons. I am by all means a realist, not matter what we do as liberal and progressive minds, there will always be people who will indulge in nepotism, racism and tribalism- thats is a fact and it is those same subjects that cause havoc every now and then.

The Ibo genocide in the North in 1966 that culminated into the Civil war was by all means wrong. Nzeogwu sellfish actions do not by all means justify the pogrom-but that is the past- We must all move on as a one nation. I pray the day when all Nigerians will consider themselves- Nigerian- born and proud rather than North/South or Hausa/Yoruba/Ibo/ Minorities.

Nation building must start now- the old generation has failed us, the new one must not falter