By Madu Onuorah
This question has become necessary following the anxiety created by the Monday May 18, 2020 surprise visit of the former Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) to President Muhammadu Buhari.
For the past few years the duo had soured with Presidential aides publicly attacking the former Chief of Army Staff and top flight international businessman.
General Danjuma had stirred the hornets’ nest on Saturday March 24, 2018 when he called on Nigerians to rise and defend themselves against ethnic cleansing.
Speaking at the maiden Convocation ceremony of Taraba State university, Jalingo, Danjuma said that the unnecessary killings which was akin to ethnic cleansing, calling on Nigerians 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.”
The Presidency and the Military authorities wobbled a defence to Danjuma’s grave allegations but its impact lingered.
As if that was not enough, on June 3, 2020, General Danjuma led a group of Nigerian Christian leaders to present a position paper to the United Kingdom Parliament, alleging that President Buhari was pursuing a jihad or Islamisation agenda and not serious about tackling insecurity arising from Boko Haram insurgency and herdsmen-farmers crises in the country.
The June 3, 2019 paper to the All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG) UK Parliament was titled “Competing Ideologies of Democracy and Sharia in Nigeria; The Nuance Understating of the Drivers of the Conflict in Nigeria by Farmers and Herders.”
The leaders cited the prevailing waves of insecurity and quoted President Buhari’s pre-2015 comments supporting the sharia movement. They include “why he could die for the course of Islam, why they could not be blackmailed into killing the sharia idea, why sharia must be spread all over Nigeria, why Boko Haram members should be given VIP treatment and not killed, and why Muslims should only vote for those who will promote Islam” among others to back their claim.
“The action taken so far by the government suggests collusion or cover up by refusing to call jihad by its proper name. When a crime is committed and acts of subjugation and/or humiliation is added such as rape or religious signs or cries, this is jihad. Because the violence is motivated by ideological reasons, action taken by all interested parties must be directed towards the prevention of violence. Bullets do not kill ideology; it is a better ideology over time that can eliminate Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen and this is Democracy.”
And to add salt to injury, at a function in Ibadan, Oyo State last year, Danjuma berated South West leaders for being cowardly in attacking the numerous wrongs of this administration. He said at the same forum that the country would explode if he opens his mouth on what is actually happening in this government.
The Presidency did not keep mute to all Danjuma’s verbose remarks, at some points they told him that the opinion of majority of common Nigerians was more important to the administration than one single biased individual.
Since then not much was heard of the General again, even in the activities of the North East Development Commission that he is still the chairperson. Many noticed that the taciturn General was not as functional as the people had anticipated.
Then, suddenly, Danjuma appears at the Presidential Villa, seating with President Buhari, exchanging banters. Curious Nigerians are wondering what must have happened?
Has the situation that informed his outburst in Jalingo and Ibadan or the paper he led to present to the UK parliament changed or has he gone to push his anger further, direct to the President? Why did he visit the Villa? What informed the visit? Who brokered it? Have the two Generals made up? All these questions are begging for answers as Nigerians digest the Monday visit.
Even though much of what is to be said in trying to find answers to the above questions will be on realm of speculations, one thing stands glaringly that the emotions appear to have come down greatly between the duo of the President and his former boss.
One source said that it is also likely that the visit is part of government’s efforts to give a new face to the administration by reaching out to critics and perceived enemies.
Moreover, the death of the former Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, due to complications of the Coronavirus (COVID-19 may have opened a new vista for the regime to see another option to their approach to governance.
Critics, including in-house ones led by no less a person than the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, have been clamouring for a change of strategy by the administration but the cabals held on to their positions.
The death of Kyari who was a strategic person in the cabal and the entry of an outsider, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, entails that there is going to be a shift in policy and execution.
Could the visit of Gen Danjuma exactly one month after Kyari’s burial be part of the new agenda, are we to expect more in this direction?
Nigerians are also not oblivious of the great bond that exist among military operatives whether in or out of uniform that even as they fight, it hardly gets to final divorce.
Could it be that the angry Generals have been appeased and are regrouping to support one of their own whose government is evidently going down or are they returning to package 2023 as they would always do.
Who takes credit for this emerging new face in governance, the loquacious First Lady or the new Chief of Staff? Does these things, coming so quick after the death of the former Chief of Staff underscore anything like he was holding the Villa hostage?
Could it be a vindication of the First Lady that the husband’s efforts to deliver good governance have been marred by the hijack of the system by the cabals? Is the civilian cabals giving way for the Generals whose own cabal is more overwhelming?
All these permutations would unfold in days ahead as the details of Gen Danjuma’s visit to Buhari unfolds. If the Generals are returning to midwife 2023 as they always do, that will be unsealed in days ahead. But one thing is clear, Nigerians are sad and are yearning for real change different from the change seen since 2015.
