a Nigerian Jukun soldier, politician and multi-millionaire businessman.
Education
Theophilus Danjuma started his education at St Bartholomew’s Primary School in Wusasa and moved onto the Benue Provincial Secondary School in Katsina-Ala where he was the captain of the school cricket 1st XI team, he received his Higher School Certificate in 1958.
In 1959 Danjuma enrolled at the Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology in Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) to study History on a Northern Nigeria Scholarship. However by the end of 1960, Danjuma had left university in order to enroll with the Nigerian Army.
Career
Military career
Danjuma was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as second lieutenant and platoon commander in the Congo and in 1963 joined a UN Peace-keeping force in Sante, Kataga Province in Congo when he was promoted to captain three years later. In 1966 Captain Danjuma was involved in a counter-coup with the 4th Battalion in Mokola, Ibadan. On July 29, 1966, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi spent the night at the Government House Ibadan as part of a nation-wide tour. His host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of Western Nigeria, alerted him to a possible mutiny within the army. Aguiyi-Ironsi desperately tried to contact his Army Chief of Staff, Yakubu Gowon, but he was unreachable (Perhaps deliberately). In the early hours of the morning, the Government House Ibadan was surrounded by soldiers led by Theophilus Danjuma. Danjuma arrested Aguiyi-Ironsi and questioned him about his alleged complicity in the coup which saw the demise of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello. Although some have argued that Fajuyi was not a target in this counter-coup, Danjuma, Walbe and others have gone on record to say that they probably wanted him "for questioning" as much as they did his boss, Aguiyi-Ironsi. Fajuyi was seen as a so-called progressive, who had supported the Nzeogwu coup in January of that year. The bullet-riddled bodies of Aguiyi-Ironsi and Fajuyi were later found in a nearby forest, and Yakubu Gowon became the new military head of state. A year later, in 1967, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the start of the campaign towards Enugu, which was captured later in that year.
In 1970 Danjuma attended the International Court Martial in Trinidad and Tobago as Nigeria's representative, when he was appointed president of the tribunal in a case brought against members of a failed coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago. Following his promotion to Colonel in 1971 he spent next two years with responsibility for court-martialling Army officers proven guilty of corruption and indiscipline. In 1975 he was promoted to Brigadier and the position of General Officer Commanding (GOC) and in the following year he became the Chief of Army Staff to the Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo. He played a prominent role in supporting the president in resisting the Dimka Coup in 1976.
He retired from the Nigerian army in 1979
He was Nigerian Army Chief of Army Staff from July 1975 to October 1979. He was also Minister of Defence under Olusegun Obasanjo.
Theophilus Danjuma, a former Nigerian defense minister, is chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO), a Nigerian oil exploration company. In 2006, Danjuma sold an oil block he was given by the regime of former Nigerian President Sani Abacha to a consortium of Chinese investors for $1.7 billion. Nigeria's biggest philanthropist, he has endowed his private charity, the TY Danjuma foundation, with $100 million. He currently advises Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on matters of state.
Religion
“The essence of every religion is love; both religions (Christianity and Islam) emphasise love to attain spiritual goal. Love is what is lacking in Nigeria today. Let us teach love, let us preach love, and let us live love. In politics, this word seems to have disappeared from our political dictionary. Anybody who happens to find himself in power will want to perpetuate his stay in office until death do us part like church marriage".
Politics
Since 1999 Danjuma has played an active role in Nigerian politics, some of his key appointments have been:
1999 Appointed as Minister of Defence to President Olusegun Obasanjo's Cabinet
2003 Appointed as Chairperson for investigative committee on the Warri conflict
2010 Nominated as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan
While in Office, Gen TY Danjuma sought to curb the politicisation of the military, and was a firm supporter of democracy and the Rule of Law. He also oversaw the renaming of all Nigerian barracks and cantons from those of civilian or living persons. He was also widely known to be an avid opponent of President Obasanjo's attempts in 2006 to engineer a way that would enable himself and state governors to serve more than two consecutive terms.
Views
the philosophy of egalitarianism, liberty