Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma GCON FSS psc (Rtd) is a Nigerian soldier, who was born on 9 December 1938 in Takum Taraba State (old Gongola), to Kuru Danjuma and Rufkatu Asibi.
His father Kuru Danjuma was a peasant farmer who also traded in metal parts for farming implements and tools.
Theophilus Danjuma Education
Theophilus Danjuma attended St Bartholomew’s Primary School in Wusasa then Benue Provincial Secondary School in Katsina.
He received his Higher School Certificate in 1958 and in 1959 enrolled at the Nigerian College of Arts Science and Technology in Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) majoring in History on a Northern Nigeria Scholarship.
However, by the end of 1960, Danjuma had left university for recruitment in the Nigerian army.
Theophilus Danjuma Army Experience
Danjuma was officially commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1963 as second lieutenant and platoon commander in the Congo; he joined a UN Peace-keeping force in Santé, Katanga Province in Congo when he was promoted to captain three years later.
In 1966, it was noted that, Captain Danjuma was involved in the Nigeria Counter-coup 1996 with the 4th Battalion in Mokola, Ibadan. In 1967, at the start of the civil war campaign towards Enugu which was captured later in that year, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Danjuma led a squad that freed Jaja Wachuku from the Ojukwu government towards the end of the Nigerian Civil War. 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.
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.
Preceding his 19 years in the army and his subsequent retirement at 40 in 1979, General Danjuma embarked on a business career; he has become a distinguished and highly successful businessman with over 35 years of experience and hard work.
Theophilus Danjuma Career
COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Limited was established in 1984 by Danjuma, with the sole purpose of acting as an agent for Nigeria American Line (NAL). Expanding tremendously in the late nineties, COMET has became one of the largest independent agents operating in Nigeria handling many types of vessels and cargo. In 2009 Comet handled over 200 vessels at the ports of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri. SOUTH ATLANTIC PETROLEUM LIMITED (SAPETRO) is a Nigerian oil exploration and production company that was created in 1995 by General T. Y. Danjuma.
Theophilus Yakub Danjuma played a key role in post independence military and political events in Nigeria and also amassed an enormous fortune through shipping and petroleum.
