The Oasis Reporters

November 12, 2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the July 29, 1966 Northern soldiers counter coup had occurred after December 1980, one would have suspected that Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma who retired as an Army General in 1979, had probably taken a lot of inspiration from the hit song written by Darryll Jones and Lionel Richie in 1980, titled, Heroes.

 

But that is certainly not the case. The decisive coup happened a clear fourteen years before the song was written and published.

When we look back in time at the risk Danjuma, then an army Captain, took in 1966 in order to neutralize the Head of State, General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, take power away from him and hand it over to then Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon, himself a fellow northern Christian. Aguiyi Ironsi was a Christian too, but from the South East.

And the whole action was to avenge the earlier coup assumed to have been led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Nzeogwu was obviously the face of the coup which led to the death of some political leaders from the other regions like the North, West and Midwest.

It was evident that what riled the counter coup plotters was the killing of their political leaders, especially the Sardauna, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Both were Muslims from the north. Others were both Muslims and Christians.

Then Captain Yakubu Danjuma saw himself as indebted to the northern leaders

So he therefore took the fight personally “until the battles were won”.
His heroes had been avenged. And he believed, like Lionel Richie crooned,

“Heroes make the sun rise in the mornin’
Heroes make the moon shine bright at night
Heroes make our lives a little stronger
In the soul of everyone he can be found”

He was the Captain that took the north “through the storm”.

The north embraced him warmly for the love that he showed it, and prospered him.

Today, while most retired soldiers find it hard to thrive, Danjuma with his investment smartness has maximized and compounded his opportunities to lead in the oil and gas sector, banking and telecommunications as well as other industries, thus emerging as a multi-billionaire in the country.

But does General TY Danjuma feel fulfilled despite his enormous wealth?
That’s debatable, because not only him, but many other sons and daughters of the Middle Belt region who cry daily that they are facing an existential threat, as villages are being razed to the ground, indigenous villagers are being cleansed from their villages and turned to refugees living in camps.

This is largely happening in the middle belt to Danjuma’s people as well as others.

Gen. Danjuma once accused the army of not being neutral. The world saw his deep pain on television. He was a man in deep distress. The bandits who are being accused of masterminding the displacement are often mentioned of belonging to an ethnic group that majority of the northern class that almost always hold political power and also, traditional power belong to.

The very tribe that Danjuma, then a Captain staked his life and all to fight for.

So when you see Gen Danjuma who is now in his late 80s or early 90s instructing his Middle belt constituency to use their ballot papers and vote for a Southern candidate, do not wonder why. Because there is a candidate in the north.

He fought with the bullet as a young Captain in his 20s to defend the ruling class in the north.
Today he is using his ballot paper to vote against them. Clearly, something has shifted drastically.
And it is the existential battle of land, liberation, freedom, justice and liberty.

 

Greg Abolo with help, inspiration from the song written by Daryll Jones/Lionel Richie, titled: Heroes

Source: LyricFind
Heroes lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

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