Civil war: Danjuma blames Ojukwu for not emulating Jonathan

A former Minister of Defence and Chairman of Victim Support Fund, Theophilus Danjuma, has blamed the leader of the defunct Biafra, the late Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, for the civil war, which resulted in the death of nearly a million Nigerians.

Danjuma said this on Wednesday after President Goodluck Jonathan paid him a private visit in his Asokoro, Abuja residence.

He argued that had the late Ojukwu conceded victory to the federal troops after the fall of Enugu during the civil war in the same manner President Jonathan accepted defeat after the March 28 presidential poll to Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress, the nation would have been saved “a full year of bloodshed.”

Jonathan visited Danjuma, who is the Chairman of the Victims Support Fund, in company with some of his aides.

The two leaders however met behind closed doors and they did not make the purpose of the parley public.

Danjuma however told journalists at the end of the meeting that the President, by conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election to Buhari, had set a record.

He said Africa and the world should emulate Jonathan.

He observed that if the late Ojukwu had done the same thing after the fall of Enugu, he would have saved the nation of bloodshed.

He said, “The outcome of the election and the manner in which President Jonathan conceded victory to Buhari, is totally un-African, it is very important in the history of Africa.

“If Ojukwu did the same after the fall of Enugu, if he had conceded victory to the federal troops, he would have saved the nation one full year of bloodshed.

“President Jonathan has set a history, a record as something to be emulated by the rest of Africa and indeed the whole world. It’s an excellent thing he did.”

Jonathan simply thanked Danjuma for his fatherly support during the election.

It will be recalled that the former minister had on March 11 visited Jonathan at the Presidential Villa during which they met behind closed doors inside Jonathan’s official residence.

Danjuma had after the first meeting warned reporters not to speculate the purpose of the visit.

He said having just returned to the country from a foreign trip, he needed to see Jonathan and find out developments in the country.

“Don’t speculate. I came to visit the President and find out how things are going. I have been abroad. I just came back,” he had said.

When asked whether he was ready to support Jonathan’s re-election, Danjuma had said he could not canvass votes for anybody because he does not belong to any political party.

“I don’t canvass (for votes). I am not in any of the political parties. The President is Nigeria’s President,” he simply said.

Danjuma in January drew the ire of some ex-Niger Delta militants, includ­ing Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo and Government Ekpemudo (a.k.a Tompolo), when he called for their arrests for threatening war if Jonathan loses the presidential election.

Apart from declaring the former minister persona non grata in the region where Jonathan hails from, the ex-militants also demanded an apol­ogy from Danjuma within seven days or face their wrath.

The repentant militant leaders said in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, that Danjuma was among north­erners who had become very comfortable in life because of the oil money from Niger Delta.