Lieutenant general (Nigeria)

Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), is the second-highest rank of the Nigerian Army and generally it is the highest active rank as the Nigerian army do not have any appointment in the rank of full general but in the case of the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, the rank of full general is given (if the chief is appointed from the army and not from the navy or the air force). It is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank.

For other countries that use this rank, see Lieutenant general.

Lieutenant general
Flag of a lieutenant general
Rank insignia of a lieutenant general
Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru official portrait showing his lieutenant general insignia
Country Nigeria
Service branch Nigerian Army
AbbreviationLt-Gen
RankThree-star rank
NATO rank codeOF-8
Non-NATO rankO-8
Next higher rankGeneral
Next lower rankMajor-general
Equivalent ranks

The rank of lieutenant general is usually held by the Chief of Army Staff.

Lieutenant general is a superior rank to major general, but subordinate to a (full) general. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-8, equivalent to a vice-admiral in the Nigerian Navy and an air marshal in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries.

The rank insignia is an eagle and a six-pointed star over a crossed sabre and baton.

Usage

Ordinarily, the lieutenant general rank is usually held by only the Chief of Army Staff which implies there is usually only one serving lieutenant general in the Army at a time but there have been some occasions where there were more than one lieutenant-general in the Army like the case of Lt-Gen Jeremiah Useni, who was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister under General Sani Abacha, while, Lt-Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi was the Chief of Army Staff. Also, there was the case of Lt-Gen Abel Akale, who was the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, at the time Lt-Gen Martin Luther Agwai was the Chief of Army Staff. Maj-Gen Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor was also promoted to Lt-Gen and made Commander of United Nations (UN) Peace Keeping Operations while Lt-Gen Agwai was still Army Chief in December 2005.[1][2] The most recent case was that of the promotion of Maj-Gen Lamidi Adeosun to the rank of lieutenant general in July 2019 while Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai was still Army Chief.[3]

During the military rule, the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and the Chief of General Staff (titles accorded to the deputy head of state and de facto vice president under different regimes) usually held a three-star rank like in the cases of Lt-Gens Olusegun Obasanjo and Oladipo Diya, both of whom never served as the Chief of Army Staff.

List of Nigerian Army Lieutenant generals

Since 1960, 33 officers have attained this rank. Among them, one officer, (Olusegun Obasanjo) attained this rank while he was Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (de facto vice president), another officer, (Oladipo Diya) attained this rank before becoming Chief of General Staff (de facto vice president), 19 served as the Chief of Army Staff, 5 of them (Ipoola Alani Akinrinade, Gibson Sanda Jalo, Domkat Yah Bali, Sani Abacha and Oladipo Diya) served as Chief of Defence Staff while holding this rank, Bali and Abacha were later promoted to the rank of full General. 6 of them (Ipoola Alani Akinrinade, Gibson Sanda Jalo, Sani Abacha, Alexander Ogomudia, Martin Luther Agwai and Owoye Andrew Azazi) served in both positions.

No Promoted Name Born Died
1 January 1976 Olusegun Obasanjo 1937
2 January 1976 Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma 1938
3 1979 Ipoola Alani Akinrinade 1939
4 1980 Gibson Jalo 1939 2000
5 1981 Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi 1940 2021
6 1987 Domkat Yah Bali 1940 2020
7 1987 Sani Abacha 1943 1998
8 1992 Garba Duba 1942
9 1992 Salihu Ibrahim 1935 2018
10 1992 Gado Nasko 1941
11 1992 Jeremiah Timbut Useni 1943
12 1992 Mohammed Balarabe Haladu 1944 1998
13 1992 Oladipo Diya 1944
14 1992 Joshua Dogonyaro 1940 2021
15 1992 Aliyu Mohammed Gusau 1943
16 1995 Rufus Kupolati 1946
17 1996 Ishaya Bamaiyi 1949
18 1999 Victor Malu 1947 2017
19 2001 Alexander Ogomudia 1949
20 2003 Martin Luther Agwai 1948
21 2004 Abel Akale – –
22 2005 Joseph Owonibi 1949
23 2005 Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor 1951
24 2006 Owoye Andrew Azazi 1952 2012
25 2007 Luka Yusuf 1952 2009
26 2008 Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau 1954
27 October 2010 Azubuike Ihejirika 1956
28 February 2014 Kenneth Minimah 1959
29 13 August 2015 Tukur Yusuf Buratai 1960
30 9 July 2019[4] Lamidi Adeosun 1963
31 5 March 2021[5] Ibrahim Attahiru 1966 2021
32 7 July 2021[6] Faruk Yahaya 1966
33 31 July 2023 Taoreed Lagbaja 1968

See also

References
  1. "'Only President can change Service Chiefs'". The Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. "Buhari Promotes Adeosun To Same Rank With Buratai". Daily Trust. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. "Buhari promotes Lamidi Adeosun to Lt Gen — same rank with Buratai". TheCable. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  4. "Buhari promotes Lamidi Adeosun to Lt Gen — same rank with Buratai". TheCable. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  5. "Irabor becomes four-star general as Buhari promotes service chiefs". TheCable. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  6. "PHOTOS: Buhari promotes Faruk Yahaya to three-star general". TheCable. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
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