That Dangerous Speech By A Disgruntled TY Danjuma

By Churchill Okonkwo…

That paranoia and disappointing call to arms by TY Danjuma for Nigerians to rise up and slaughter themselves is a pointer that the Nigerian democracy is in deep trouble, trouble more serious than many of us realize. That irresponsible call by Gen. TY Danjuma has a realistic chance of catalyzing or inciting violence by a group against another. It should thus, as expected in law, be characterized as a dangerous speech.

One of the most effective ways of preventing privileged, public figures like TY Danjuma from inciting violence by a group against another is by undermining their authority. Before Gen. TY Danjuma further puts the lives of Nigerian at risk, there is need to adequately characterize him for whom he is – a paranoiac hypocrite. Here is a man that supervised the (in)famous ethnic cleansing in Odi and Zaki Biam under OBJ complaining about Nigerian Army.

For years, Gen. TY Danjuma was a major beneficiary in the looting of our national wealth. Forgot his lies about not being involved in politics, he belongs to the political class that ruined Nigeria; he corruptly enriched himself when he was “dashed” oil blocks worth about $2billion for a chicken $500 million; he foisted Obasanjo on Nigerians and has been the godfather of Taraba State, having single-handedly selected the governor of the state. While he was part of the jamboree with PDP for years, it never occurred to him that Nigerian security agencies are murderous, incompetent and corrupt.

So my questions are: is the General who supervised the brutal killing of Gen Aguiyi-Ironsi now genuinely scared of the Nigerian Army? Were his utterances a result of his failure to control his tongue? Does he really believe that the solution to the security challenges facing Nigerians is arming the warring communities and sitting back and watch them slaughter themselves? Will Gen. TY Danjuma send his children to lead the line when anarchy descends on Taraba State?

TY Danjuma’s call to arms shows that the very fabric of the values that have held us together as a multicultural society is unraveling quickly and dangerously. The murderous acts of violence being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen and other armed militia across Nigeria should be contained by Nigerian security agencies. And quickly too. The Buhari’s administration should also accept full responsibility for failing to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians irrespective of the genesis of the current violent acts.

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But, should we slaughter ourselves and then expect God to bless the ruins because the Nigerian security apparatus have not risen up to their responsibility? Or, should we, rather, come together as communities and solve our problems and ask God to bless our sense of brotherhood?

Clearly, TY Danjuma was mocking God and Nigerian democracy when he called on Nigerians to arm ourselves and fight it out and at the same time asking God to “bless our country.” The violent conflict relating to the issues of contestation over land and grazing fields in Taraba State has been ongoing for decades. What has TY Danjuma done is his numerous roles in the Army and Civilian administrations to find a lasting solution to the violent conflict in his backyard? NOTHING.

The ethnic discord that came out of the mouth of TY Danjuma has the effect of poison. His message of prejudice and fear is meant to pave the way for Nigerians to be massacred. With the Social Media serving as a dual-use technology – freedom of speech and promotion of extremism, it is practically impossible to inoculate the Nigerian population for such pre-genocidal comments from TY Danjuma.

In the face of TY Danjuma’s call for us to all march on the road to Kigali, I paused and asked, where are the institutions designed to represent the people? Where are the Civil Society Groups? Where is the press? Gone or transformed so drastically that they no longer care about critical analysis? In their reporting, I marvel that the mainstream media in Nigeria have reduced their citizen’s action to mere media stunt designed to hype and trend. Which media house in Nigeria can claim to be the voice of reason in the present cacophony? Who is advocating for multiculturalism?

Like everything good and beautiful in life, there are some elements of ugliness. At some point, therefore, Nigerians should accept our multicultural and multi-religious reality. This reality of our multiculturalism will not bring peace until we acknowledge that endless bickering or descent into anarchy will not favor any group. The Nigerian mainstream media have failed woefully in rising up to the responsibility of promoting multiculturalism, even as they advocate for justice and equity.

It is strange watching these political dinosaurs that liquidated Nigeria still positioning themselves as the alpha and omegas of our problems by selling half-truth and lies. TY Danjuma is only selling half-truth and lies to Nigerians just like his buddy OBJ did weeks ago. It is a tragedy that in Nigerian democracy, the citizens have surrendered their right to join the argument to Obasanjo, Buhari and Danjuma’s generation of corrupt military-politicians. These political dinosaurs are tackling 21st century problems with obsolete ideologies from the 19th century. They can’t possibly be the leaders of Nigeria in this modern era.

Gentlemen, we must return back to the root of our cohesiveness – unity in diversity. It is only when this is done that we can start drinking from our diverse wealth. That is why; there is the need to find ways of reconciling the demands of unity and diversity. Without unity, we cannot hold ourselves together, take and enforce collectively binding decisions, and generate a spirit of community. As for diversity, it is not only inescapable in Nigeria, it also enriches and contributes to the well-being of the communities.

I will end this piece by reminding TY Danjuma of what I have been telling his likes that are in the business of promoting bigotry and intolerance; genocide begins with words.

For anyone who listened to TY Danjuma, it is clear that he is preparing a way for genocide by empowering hardliners on either side. He is setting the tone for war. For encouraging senseless killings, therefore, TY Danjuma should be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court if anarchy descends on Taraba State.

The dog (TY Danjuma) should not eat dung and expect the teeth of goat (the rural dwellers in Taraba) to rot. I will thus, encourage the disgruntled TY Danjuma to line up his children and relations in the forefront of the Armageddon he is calling for. That’s how to truly show patriotism.

 

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