NationalMirror Leadership failure: Danjuma’s perennial lamentation OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU June 28, 2013 For the umpteenth time, former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, laments the bleak future that stares Nigeria in the face as a result of bad leadership that had bedevilled the country since independence, writes OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU. For the umpteenth time, former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Defence, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, a retired Lieutenant General, last weekend, lamented the lack of ‘clear sense of direction’ of the future of the country due to the dire absence of what he called ‘patriotic elder statesmen’ to steer the ship of leadership. He blamed the leadership of the country for the near collapse of all the sectors of the economy and the current security challenges confronting the nation. He stated this while speaking in Zaria, where he was conferred with the chieftaincy title of Jarmai Zazzau by the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris. Danjuma lamented that the absence of quality leadership in the country has been the bane of the socio-economic and political development in Nigeria, adding that Nigeria would only change for the better only when patriotic individuals are entrusted with leadership positions. Reviewing the socio-political situation in the country, Danjuma attributed the present ‘perplexed’ comatose nature of the country to failure of leadership over the years. He also deplored the economic situation in the country, which he said was in tatters, condemning the widening gulf between the rich and the poor. He also did not have soft words for the Northern region, which he said was lagging behind the rest of the country. His words: “Our society and economy are in tatters. I have taken many risks in my life for the sake of Nigeria and at the age of 75, I thought I have paid my dues. I just wanted to spend the rest of my life in quiet retirement, leaving the public arena for a new generation of leaders to improve on the modest achievements of my generation. It seems to me now that real retirement is only possible in the grave. Our lives and living are apparently inevitably tied eternally to responsibilities. “In a highly competitive world, our children are missing out in getting qualitative and functional education. The masses of our people are chained down in dehumanising and grinding poverty, while we continue to maintain few islands of false prosperity in the turbulent ocean of penury and squalor. There cannot be peace and harmony where there is wide disparity between the few rich and a multitude of the poor. “Nigeria and indeed, Northern Nigeria has never been in short supply of politicians scheming and screaming for due and undue advantages. What has been in short supply are patriotic elder statesmen who would use their experience and wisdom to give our country a clear sense of purpose and direction. “When elders become decadent, the youths are bound to become delinquent. Our people are confused and perplexed, they have become like flock scattered on many hills without a shepherd. This is a clear indication of leadership failure.” The turbaning ceremony, which under normal circumstances, should have been accompanied with a durbar and carnival-like festivities, was low-keyed, because the Gen-requested for a modest ceremony. He said: “Given the sad reality of our present situation in Northern Nigeria, I pleaded for a simple but dignified ceremony devoid of pomp and ceremony. “We are in a season of sorrow and mourning caused by decades of neglect of a sizeable segment of our society. Now, our people are dying in thousands in needless battles and conflicts.” Berating Northern elders for their role in the backwardness experienced by the region, Danjuma said that the Northern leaders, rather than concentrate on the development of the region, have been talking too much. He added that “we urgently need to put our house in order so we can overcome our various challenges. This is the time for elders to be circumspect and temperate in their utterances. It is not in our character as Northerners to talk too much. We need to think more, pray more, plan more, work harder, relate better. Battles are fought and won through wisdom and strategy than through inflammable pronouncements and political tantrums.” But despite the bleak future painted by Danjuma, he was optimistic that there is light at the end of the tunnel as according to him, Nigeria “can be reawakened and rebuilt to achieve greatness,” despite the albatross of many years of the locust, years of mismanaged resources and missed opportunities. His words: “In spite of the many years of mismanaged opportunities and resources, I still believe that Nigeria can be reawakened and rebuilt to achieve greatness. If we renew our minds and reconcile with one another, if we coordinate our determined efforts, we can make Northern Nigeria self-reliant and self-sufficient, while enhancing the unity and prosperity of all Nigerians. But we must first have peace.” This would not be the first time the former Defence Minister would be handing down a damning condemnation to the leadership of the country. In May 2012, while speaking at the 50th birthday celebration of the chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, Danjuma had painted a very gloomy picture of Nigeria’s security situation, declaring succinctly that “the country is on fire” and put the blame of the entire security challenges on leadership as the bane of Nigeria’s socio-political and economic problems. He had said: “But believe me, in the last two months, I began to wonder. Our house is on fire. Nigeria is becoming Somalia. The Somalisation of our country is going on now. Let’s look at ourselves in the face and tell ourselves the truth and find solution to the problem. We have to sit down and tell ourselves the truth.” But is the retired General wrong in his present assessment of the cause of the daunting challenges confronting the nation? Political analysts believe that Danjuma actually gave a correct and accurate prognosis of the ills debilitating the Nigerian state. In a chat with National Mirror, the National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Osita Okechukwu, agreed with Danjuma’s diagnosis. He said even if one would not say that lack of quality leadership was the bane of Nigeria’s development in the past, it came to the fore in the last 14 years of the nation’s nascent democratic leadership. He said: “I agree with General Danjuma. Despite being in past governments, he has never been Head of State. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo left $20 billion in the Excess Crude Account, without rehabilitating our refineries or building new ones; without giving Nigerians a functional rail system; without any infrastructural development with major roads in the country left unattended to. “Look at President Goodluck Jonathan, the highest he can lay claim to is the establishment of a federal university in Bayelsa. Nothing else has been achieved under the Jonathan administration, despite the unprecedented oil revenue that accrued to government.” Okechukwu also agreed with Danjuma that there is light at the end of the tunnel, because the present problem cannot disintegrate the country because what the nation is facing is neither ethnically nor sectionally-inflicted, but inflicted by the elite. He added that the leadership problem was what led to the crisis in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, which he described as a dent on our democracy. Perhaps, realising the enormity of the indictment of Nigeria’s lack of competent and credible leadership, President Jonathan, a day Danjuma made his pronouncement met with him at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. The meeting, described by a source in the Presidency as a one-on-one between the President and the retired General, was a private one, but did not, according to the source looked like a meeting between the President and a man who has earlier castigated the leadership of the country for being responsible for the woes of the country. The source said: “You will recall that there are some media reports today (on Sunday) suggesting that Gen. Danjuma criticised the nation’s leadership. It will interest you to know that the same General visited the President today. In fact, he was the last visitor the President received before leaving for Cameroun. “Although the meeting was a one-on-one session, the cordial atmosphere in which the talk was held did not suggest a meeting between a President and somebody, who just criticised the nation’s leadership a day before.” Meanwhile, whether as a follow up or as a result of the damning indictment of the leadership by Danjuma, he in tandem with prominent Nigerians will gather at Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, next week to deliberate on and proffer solutions to the state of the nation and the probable way forward. Apart from Danjuma, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who is the lead speaker at the confab and former Petroleum Resources Minister and the chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule are billed to be part of the confab. Other participants would include: legal luminary, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, Chief Edwin Clark, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, HRM Amayanabo Alfred Diete-Spiff, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, and former Plateau State governor, Chief Solomon Lar among other prominent Nigerians. It is hoped, however, that the administration of President Jonathan would take a cue from this wake-up call by the former Defence Minister to confront the various challenges confronting the nation and let Nigerians have a ‘fresh breath of air’, which he promised Nigerians in 2011 when he was campaigning for votes from Nigerians.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 08:35:13 +0000
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