No Nigerian soldier ever has been more successful in business after military service than Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd). A jack of three careers—military, business, and politics—Danjuma was master of them all. And his amiable wife, Senator Daisy Ehinare Danjuma, has been a direct and integral part of the overwhelming success story of Danjuma’s businesses and politics.
That success story began with a risky decision TY Danjuma (as he is popularly known) took early in life: After enrolling at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University) to study history on a Northern Nigeria scholarship, he quit the university at the end of 1960 to join the Nigerian Army. He was to follow this up later in life with his involvement in several high-risk operations in military and political events in Nigeria. His strong appetite for risk-taking may have been at the root of his outstanding successes in the army, business, and politics.
TY Danjuma was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant and platoon commander in Congo in 1963, when he joined a UN peacekeeping force in Sante, Katanga Province, in Congo. He was deeply and courageously involved in the military politics of his era, which enhanced his rapid promotions and ascension to command postings until he was appointed the Chief of Army Staff in 1976. He retired from the Nigerian Army in 1979.
He began his business career that same year when he founded Nigeria American Line (NAL), Nigeria’s pioneer indigenous shipping company. It traded between Lagos and Santos in Brazil, taking advantage of Nigeria’s bilateral trade agreement, which had opened the sea routes to economies in the South American markets. Next came COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Limited, which he established in 1984, primarily to act as an agent for NAL. They were later merged to become the NAL-COMET Group, which has grown to become one of the largest and most successful indigenous shipping agencies and terminal operators in Nigeria.
Danjuma diversified into the petroleum industry when he founded South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd (SAPETRO), an oil exploration and production company, which has since become one of the largest indigenous oil producers in Africa. He has since added telecommunications (NatComDevelopment & Investment Limited), energy, tourism, hospitality (KP Hydro Limited, a consortium), real estate, and pharmaceuticals to his portfolio of economic sectors, companies, and business lines under his belt. NatCom’s bouquet of services includes national bandwidth, international voice termination, international bandwidth, mobile and fixed communications services.
KP Hydro, the latest of Danjuma’s companies, recently won the concession for and took over the Kashimbila Dam, a Federal Government integrated hydro project initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to prevent flooding caused by water releases from Cameroon. But the dam has evolved into a vital source of clean energy for Taraba State. In addition to power generation and flood control, the dam is expected to transform the region into a tourism hub with an airport and a five-star hotel.
From retirement, TY Danjuma was recalled to national service when President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Defence Minister in 1999. That appointment marked the beginning of his political career. Although he did not contest for an elective office, Danjuma nonetheless remained and played several roles in the corridors of power. These included serving as chairperson for the investigative committee on the Warri conflict and chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council under Acting President Goodluck Jonathan. Most significantly, TY Danjuma has been one of the biggest influences on the politics of Taraba State and is believed to be the invisible hand behind the election of most of the governors of the state since 1999.
While TY Danjuma, 88, focuses on his businesses and behind-the-scenes politics, his wife, Senator Daisy Danjuma, 73, is the face of open partisan politics in the Danjuma family. The Edo State-born law graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1977. She worked as a State Counsel in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice (DPP), a pioneer legal counsel to the Legal Aid Council, and NAL Merchant Bank. She was Company Secretary/Legal Adviser to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) from 1982 to 1992.
Danjuma’s political career began when her husband got relocated to Port Harcourt and became a minister of Abuja. In the 2003 general election, Danjuma was elected senator to represent Edo South Senatorial District on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) and served from 2003 to 2007. As a senator, she was appointed Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs and Youth Development, as well as a member of the Senate Committees on Health, Education, Finance, and Land Transport. Being a senator from Nigeria gave Danjuma the opportunity to be a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). She has also served as Chairman, Women and Child Rights Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament. Danjuma contested for a second tenure in her Senate office in 2011 but was unsuccessful.
But Senator Daisy Danjuma’s life has not all been about politics. She is also deeply involved in the management of her family businesses and investments up to the boardroom level. She was the Chairman of South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO) from 1999 to 2003 and a member of the Board of Directors of May & Baker Nigeria Limited between July 1999 and October 2003 (when she was elected senator). She returned later in May 2019 and was elevated to the position of Chairman of the Board four months later, on September 27, replacing her husband who retired from the position that day. She occupies that seat to this day. She has also served or is still serving on the boards of several professional and charitable organizations across the country and beyond.
The marriage of the power couple is blessed with a child, and their efforts with a humongous fortune. In fact, TY Danjuma is a billionaire rated by Forbes to have a net worth of over $2 billion (about N3 trillion). But they do not keep all this fortune to themselves. The couple are among Nigeria’s biggest philanthropists. They own the TY Danjuma Foundation, which has partnered with over 50 NGOs throughout Nigeria to support various charitable causes including poverty eradication, women and children, education, healthcare, infrastructure, institutions, etc. It is impacting millions of lives all over the country.
In Danjuma’s impoverished home state of Taraba alone, US$500,000 has been given out as grants to NGOs working to alleviate the suffering of the residents. One of the many NGOs that is being supported by the foundation is CASVI, working in Takum, Wukari, Donga, and Ibi. CASVI’s main area of expertise is the provision of free eye care services, such as the treatment of river blindness.
The inclusion of Theophilus and Daisy Danjuma in The Top10 Magazine’s 10 Most Impactful Power Couples in Nigeria is in celebration of their outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s economic development as they serve as inspiration to upcoming couples.
