Former Minister of Defence, Gen Theophilus Danjuma, in what appears to be a reminiscence on Nigeria/ Biafra civil war, said that a lot of lives could have been saved had former Biafran leader, Emeka Ojukwu conceded defeat after the fall of Enugu.
Danjuma spoke when President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday paid him a private visit in his Asokoro, Abuja residence.
Jonathan visited Danjuma, who is the Chairman of the Victims Support Fund, in company with a few aides. The two leaders however met behind closed doors which lasted for over an hour and they did not make the purpose of their meeting public.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting, Danjuma extolled President Jonathan for conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election to Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress.
The former Defence minister said that Jonathan by that singular act had set a record, which Africa and the world should emulate.
According to him, if the late Biafran warlord, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had done the same thing after the fall of Enugu, he would have saved the nation of bloodshed.
“The outcome of the election and the manner in which President Jonathan conceded victory to Buhari, is 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. Its an excellent thing he did,” he stated.
Jonathan simply thanked Danjuma for his fatherly support during the election. It would 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 about 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.
