By Gambori Dori
After receiving the delayed national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, CFR, from President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Col. Dangiwa Umar sat down to ruminate, craft and issue an acceptance letter that had been widely reported in the media for most of the latter part of last month. I consider the letter a massive missive not only for reminding the president of the names of those who remain omitted, but for the courageous advice he proffered to President Tinubu.
This kind of advice to power can only be tendered by the likes of Dangiwa Umar. I dare say that among those mentioned in the first group to be honoured on June 12, none, if any, could have had the temerity to have raised the issues brought forth in Dangiwa’s letter.
Dangiwa has never shied away from criticising governments on what he believed was the right thing to do. He had several skirmishes with the Abacha regime, particularly on the actualisation of the June 12 mandate
Dangiwa almost missed out on receiving the honour he so richly deserves. During the president’s appearance at the National Assembly, when he rolled out the names of those to be bestowed with the national honours, and Dangiwa’s name was conspicuously absent, there was an immediate outcry in the media. Here was someone who was part of the military government that annulled Abiola’s election win and who put his career and commission on the line to fight his bosses in vain to salvage Abiola’s victory.
Actually, Dangiwa had looked forward to the 1993 elections. In the latter part of the Babangida regime, Dangiwa had wrestled with his conscience and concluded that democracy, not military dictatorship, was the best form of government for the country. He saw the 1993 election as a well-thought-out route for their regime to honourably hand over to a civilian administration. However, to his chagrin, the whole election arrangement became a façade for a continuation of military rule.
The election that was deemed to be free and fair, and had a winner in sight, had the process truncated and finally annulled. Dangiwa must have been in pain at the developments and sensing that there was widespread public disenchantment on the annulment of the election, he made formal entreaties to General Babangida, expressing his grievances and deep disappointment.
He also got into all sorts of manoeuvres along with like minds within the military at the risk of his life, to actualise the mandate of the winner of the June 12 election. When all his efforts failed and he realised that a strong faction of the military was obdurate and was bent on retaining power, Dangiwa decided to perform a career harakiri by laying down his commission.
By that magnificent gesture, Dangiwa walked away from a brilliant career. He had joined the army in 1967 and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1972. Since then, Dangiwa had never been far from the seat of power. He was ADC to General Hassan Usman Katsina, then Deputy Chief of Staff in the Supreme Headquarters up till 1975.
Dangiwa had his first political appointment during the General Muhammadu Buhari military regime when he was appointed the Sole Administrator of the Federal Housing Authority. He was an active participant in the 1985 coup that ousted General Buhari and brought Dangiwa’s mentor, General Ibrahim Babangida, to power. He was named the governor of Kaduna State (then including Katsina province). He returned to military duties in 1988, and at the time of his retirement in 1993, was the Commander of the Nigerian Army Armour School in Bauchi.
Dangiwa has never shied away from criticising governments on what he believed was the right thing to do. He had several skirmishes with the Abacha regime, particularly on the actualisation of the June 12 mandate. He never relented, even with the advent of civilian rule.
I have sighted letters that Dangiwa wrote to President Obasanjo and President Yar’Adua. He did not spare President Buhari either. One of the letters I noted was written to Buhari and was titled: ‘Your Lopsided Appointments Will Ruin Nigeria’, where he berated the president for only considering northern Muslims to head key security agencies.
In that letter, Dangiwa pointedly told the president, ‘I regret that there are no kind or gentle words to tell you that your skewed appointments into the offices of the federal government, favouring some and frustrating others, shall bring ruin and destruction to this nation’. Buhari’s nepotistic and crony appointments did not destroy the nation, but they have laid the foundation of the impunity President Tinubu is now practising in appointments, hands down, without letup.
There is consistency in Dangiwa’s letter writing. Early in the Tinubu administration, in July 2023, he had written to him to shun desperate lobbyists seeking appointments. He said, “Please avoid the company of people who show embarrassing desperation in lobbying for appointments in your government.”
In the last month’s letter, he went further to caution the president against sycophancy, which is fast becoming ‘the scourge of selfless and accountable leadership’, by ‘the rapidly growing trend of naming and renaming public institutions’. Like Dangiwa and a host of others, we have also raised the same issue three weeks ago on this page. I hope the president is listening.