Former Minister of Defence and ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, utilised the opportunity as the speaker at the convocation ceremony of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, to comment on the alarming security situation in the country.
To the general, the continued massacre of Nigerian farmers by Fulani herdsmen has gone beyond what Nigerians should endure, especially in the face of the Federal Government’s unwillingness to confront the perpetrators of the tragedy. Danjuma, therefore, called on Nigerians to take their fate in their hands and defend themselves against the killers.
He also explained his loss of faith in the Nigerian military of which he was the epitome. According to the retired general, “The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the armed bandits that kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their (killers) movement, they cover them. If you are depending on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one.” He stated that the killings were tantamount to ethnic cleansing which must stop not only in Taraba State but in all states of Nigeria.
Since the speech was delivered, reactions have varied from those who saw the passionate cry of a true patriot to those who view the speech as that of an anarchist. The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, and the military say the remarks were “highly uncalled for” and “an invitation to anarchy.” In a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu stated that the military is doing its best and have made sacrifices including the loss of military personnel, beheaded on March 16, in the military’s effort to secure the peace in Taraba State.
The temptation to pounce on General Danjuma is very strong. But his comments appear to be a measure of his level of frustration over the incessant, daily massacres of innocent Nigerians in various parts of the country by Fulani herdsmen which have gone on for long and which the government has treated with levity and insensitivity. Since the last three years, the number of those killed number in thousands; the displaced in hundreds of thousands and property destroyed runs into billions of Naira. The depredations of the herdsmen are now being compared to the carnage by the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Indeed in recent times, the herdsmen seem to have slaughtered more people than the Boko Haram. Eminent Nigerians have spoken with equal passion as Danjuma, including former Presidents Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka remarked the other day that the Fulani herdsmen have declared war on Nigerians. This is the context in which Gen. Danjuma’s speech must be viewed.
The government has made numerous promises to end these killings without backing its promises with any visible action. Indeed, the more the government promised action, the worse the situation got, creating a situation where the ordinary citizen has learnt not to believe the government in anything concerning the Fulani herdsmen. That the herdsmen are being protected goes beyond saying. How can it be that thousands of Nigerians are murdered and not a single prosecution, not one conviction, not more than a handful of arrests was made? The arsenal of the herdsmen did not drop from the skies. How did AK-47, the choice weapons of the herdsmen, become so easily available to facilitate the carnage?
The Taraba State Government has stated how it tried several times to avert the killings by alerting the Federal Government to no avail. It wrote the President on January 26, 2016 about “threats to peace,” with copies to the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police. It also wrote to the Acting President on July 5, 2017 to alert the Federal Government about a “precarious security situation.”
The easiest path for Gen. Danjuma would have been to keep quiet and enjoy his wealth. But he is an elder statesman and he knows that silence is complicity. We all know that for evil to thrive all that is needed is for honest citizens to be quiet. Danjuna was bearing witness to history and should indeed be commended for speaking up.