That Danjuma’s Outburst

The punch recently thrown at the nation’s military apparatchik and the follow-up self-defence admonition by former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) should worry every right-thinking Nigerian.
In the first place, Danjuma is one of the few reticent retired Army Generals who do not give in to many words. So, whatever may have brought the taciturn elder statesman out from his cocoon to spit fire should, certainly, give cause for concern.
Danjuma, apparently piqued by the poor handling of the security issue in the country, especially the seemingly intractable herdsmen attacks across the country, berated the military for being complicit in the series of killings and wanton destruction of farmlands and properties by Fulani herdsmen, and therefore called for self-defence from Nigerians.
Speaking at the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, last weekend, Danjuma was quoted thus: “You must rise to protect yourself from these people. If you depend on the armed forces for protection, you will all die one by one.
“The ethnic cleansing must stop now. Otherwise, Somalia will be a child’s play. I ask everyone of you to be on the alert and defend your country, defend your territory, defend your State because you have nowhere else to go. The Armed Forces are not neutral. They are conniving with armed bandits that are killing people”.
Danjuma’s outburst in the face of unprovoked attacks by Fulani herdsmen and a renewed onslaught by Boko Haram insurgents may sound anarchical, but it was obviously in consequence of loss of confidence in the ability of the military to defend and protect the citizenry.
While The Tide does not support anarchy nor a semblance of terror as Danjuma’s words may be interpreted to mean, we think the elder stateman’s ebullition should serve as a warning to the Federal Government to do the needful before the curtain falls on Nigeria.
Danjuma’s pronouncement over the state of insecurity in the country is not the first coming from such a notable Nigerian. We recall that there have been outpouring of angry reactions from some other prominent Nigerians including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida concerning the unabating bloodletting and pogrom in the country. In fact, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose; the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo had, at different times, expressed similar exasperation and also called for self-defence from Nigerians.
The latest explosion coming from an Army General of Danjuma’s status is too weighty to be ignored. We, therefore, urge the Federal Government not to take his statement with a pinch of salt, as the Army has attempted to do.
We believe that Danjuma’s outburst, just like many others, is a direct reflection of the ugly situation in the country and obviously a veiled reference to gross failure by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to stem the tide of bloodletting being orchestrated by the Fulani herdsmen. Moreover, Nigerians do not expect such ignominious docility and crass cluelessness from a government that rode to power on the mantra of tackling insecurity in the country.
As a former military Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces, we believe that President Buhari does not require any tutorial in handling security situation in the country. In any case, we urge the President to, without further delay, overhaul the nation’s security architecture, especially in the face of recent allegations against the military.
The fact that the insurgency in the North East and the herdsmen menace across the country have menacingly caused, not just the Buhari administration, but the entire Nigeria, a collateral damage is enough reason to review the military strategies and overhaul the whole security configuration in the country.
We fear that if urgent step is not taken by government to tame the twin monster of insurgency and herdsmen genocide in the country, ordinary Nigerians may be left with no better option than to resort to Danjuma’s antidote. The implications of this are better imagined.