In a tête-à-tête with journalists last week, the Governor of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, openly disagreed with retired General Theophilus Danjuma, former Chief of Army Staff and former Minister of Defence, over his advice to us Nigerians, to defend ourselves against those who have been killing citizens like Christmas turkeys and abducting and negotiating ransom payments like buying and selling sacks of potatoes in Shendam market.
Namadi said, “He (Danjuma) is a very senior security person and should be respected. But if he says citizens should be allowed to defend themselves, I think you are causing anarchy.” TY Danjuma, of all people, being accused of causing anarchy?! How time changes things!
The weekend before, at a get-together organised in honour of his workers in Takum, Taraba State, Danjuma told staff, partners, and companies working with him that citizens should not fold their arms and allow bandits and terrorists to overrun their communities.
“We cannot continue to sit and watch while bandits, terrorists, and criminal gangs massacre our people unchecked… It is now very clear that the government alone cannot protect us. We must stand up and defend ourselves, our families, and our lands before these criminals overrun the entire country,” he affirmed.
TY Danjuma, described as “a soldier’s soldier” by former President Muhammadu Buhari, has been an unapologetic advocate for self-defence.
In October 2022, he made the same call in Wukari, Taraba State, at the official presentation of the Staff of Office to the Aku Uka of Wukari, Manu Ali, where he lamented that Nigerians had taken his earlier call in 2017 for them to defend their land against terrorists for granted. And so, he appealed to the Aku Uka “to unite us to be able to defend ourselves against the enemies of the country effectively.”
Exactly seven years ago, at the maiden convocation ceremony of Taraba State University in Jalingo, the state capital, Danjuma said, “The unnecessary killings, which is a target for ethnic cleansing of the people of Taraba and Nigeria at large, must stop,” calling on the people to “rise and defend themselves against the killers.”
“You must rise to protect yourselves from these people; if you depend on the Armed Forces to protect you, you will all die,” he said.
The presidency, the Army he once headed, and the Nigerian Police rebuked him over those statements. The Nigerian Army set up an investigative committee, to which he responded, “In 2017, when I called on the people to defend themselves, the Army set up a kangaroo commission of enquiry to investigate, and they said I was lying because there was no evidence.”
But what has changed between then and now?
According to a report by The Punch newspaper, 23 local government areas in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi States are under the control of bandits. Farmers and residents have abandoned their farms and communities, while the unlucky ones have been slaughtered, their women taken away.
Bandits appoint community leaders in many communities, with residents paying them homage and taxes.
In Niger State, five local governments are within the bandits’ grip. It is equally dire in Katsina, where communities have now been forced to negotiate with the bandits for relief from their attacks. In the Faskari area of Katsina State, 32 communities have been abandoned due to relentless bandit attacks, according to a Leadership newspaper survey.
Bandits can storm a wedding venue and demand that the bride be handed over to them — a demand people quickly obey. Sometimes, they call a father to bring them his daughter(s) or a husband to surrender his wife or wives. Refusing to comply is perilous, as no one can protect you from the consequences that may arise.
Who can, when even military barracks are not exempt from their attacks? From the plains of Sokoto to the dunes of Borno, up to the hills of Taraba, terrorists in various forms hold sway. Venture ten kilometres outside Maiduguri, and you may never be seen again. Even today, roads connecting the capital of Borno to other areas remain unused due to the risk of encountering them.
When one carefully examines all the besieged communities, a common thread emerges: most inhabitants were docile, sheepishly allowing the marauders to treat them as they pleased. Instead of defending their lands, property, integrity, and families by facing the brigands head-on, forcing them back or dying in the process with wounds on the front, they turn tail and run away — many of them dying from wounds on their backs.
I often cite two communities in the North-East that stood toe-to-toe with Boko Haram and emerged victorious.
When Boko Haram attacked Azare town in Bauchi State, instead of cowering, residents bravely fought back. Those with vehicles rammed into them, while others, despite being shot at, pursued them until the last of them was dispatched to God for final judgment.
The same occurred in Biu, Borno State. The entire youth population came out to confront the Boko Haramites when they invaded the town of Yamtar Ola until the remaining insurgents realised it was safer to flee the hilly town. To the insurgents, avoiding these two lands of the brave is the beginning of wisdom.
But who is TY Danjuma that Governor Namadi is warning not to bring anarchy to Nigeria? When Namadi was born on 7 April 1963, Danjuma was a second lieutenant and a platoon commander in a United Nations peacekeeping force in Sante, Katanga Province, in Congo. In 1966, when the governor was three years old, Danjuma laid down not only his career but also his life by being at the forefront of the counter-coup, dubbed the “July Rematch,” which aimed to avenge the North, a region that Namadi now presumably wishes to see developed.
Between 1967 and 1970, he fought to preserve Nigeria’s unity. You may accuse Nigerians who fought to retain a united Nigeria of many things, but not of lacking patriotism — and indeed not of causing anarchy.
Former President Buhari, who fought in the Nigerian Civil War under Danjuma, has said that at a time when Danjuma could have been Head of State following the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed in a botched coup in 1976, he sacrificed for the country.
Unlike many generals who have profited from the country’s insecurity, amassing billions for themselves, Danjuma, through legitimate business ventures, has used his profits to benefit communities, including tertiary institutions.
Surely, one expects an apology from anyone who accuses such a figure as General TY Danjuma, as Governor Namadi did.
In an era when generals contribute millions to pay ransom for the release of one of their own, what will become of us, ordinary mortals, if we do not come together and organise to defend ourselves?
Hassan Gimba, anipr, is the CEO/Publisher of Neptune Prime.