Lifestyle

TY Danjuma: Retired military general (rtd) who is today a billionaire

Published

3 years ago

2022/08/23

There are retired military generals in Nigeria and there is a special class for folks like Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (TY Danjuma).

General TY Danjuma (rtd) was born on December 9th, 1938 to Kuru Danjuma and his Rufkatu Asibi in Takum, Taraba State.

Danjuma had his elementary education at St Bartholomew’s Primary School Wusasa, before heading to Benue Provincial Secondary School in Katsina-Ala where he obtained his Higher School Certificate in 1958.

He proceeded to the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology in Zaria (now Ahmadu Bello University) for his tertiary education before dropping out to join the Nigerian Army in 1960.

Military career

Danjuma was commissioned as a second lieutenant and platoon commander into the Nigerian Army in the Congo.

When he joined a UN peacekeeping team in Sante, the Kataga Province of Congo, he eventually attained the rank of Captain.

Theophilus Danjuma oversaw a battalion that liberated Jaja Wachuku from the Biafran administration led by Ojukwu during the civil war in Nigeria.

In the 1970 International Court Martial in Trinidad & Tobago, Danjuma represented Nigeria. In a subsequent case presented against participants in an aborted coup, he was chosen to serve as the tribunal’s president.

He earned Colonel status in 1971.

He received a promotion to the position of General Officer Commanding in 1975, earning the rank of Brigadier (GOC).

He was appointed Chief of Army Staff under Olusegun Obasanjo’s military rule in 1976.

Theophilus Danjuma left the Nigerian army in the year 1979.

Business career

TY Danjuma established Nigeria America Line (NAL) after his exit from the Army.

The company’s primary trading hubs were Brazil and Lagos. NAL today employs well over 251 people, compared to its initial workforce of less than 13.

In order to represent NAL, Danjuma established a second business in 1984 called COMET Shipping Agencies Nigeria Ltd. Since its founding, COMET has handled a wide variety of vessels and cargo with great expertise.

He began exploring and producing oil in 1995 and launched a firm called South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO) specifically for that endeavour.

In 1998, Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 246 was issued to the business by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. A total of 2,590 kilometres squared are included in the licence (1,000 sq. miles). To begin prospecting on OPL246, SAPETRO teamed up with Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd (TUPNI) and Petrobras.

Additionally, Theophilus Danjuma has stock in Notore Chemical Industries, which produces urea fertiliser.