By Musa Umar Bologi
Abuja
Nigerian Army Council at the weekend approved the promotion of 227 senior officers from various ranks to the next higher ranks in the Nigerian Army.
A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman who was also promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, said 21 Brigadier Generals were promoted to Major Generals, 93 Colonels to Brigadier Generals and 113 Lieutenant Colonels to Colonels.
He said promotion in the Nigerian Army is an annual exercise by the Service to qualified personnel who have distinguished themselves over stipulated period of time, adding that exercise was “expected to re-energise the beneficiaries towards the discharge of their onerous tasks and responsibilities.”
Officers promoted to the ranks of Major Generals are:: Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division, Brigadier General CM Abraham; Acting Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Artillery Corps, Brigadier General OU Obono; Acting General Officer Commanding 3 Division, Brigadier General PJ Dauke; Acting General Officer Commanding 8 Task Force Division, Brigadier AA Nani.
Other officers are: Acting Coordinator, Nigerian Army Aviation Corps, Brigadier General JB Olawunmi; Commander 48 Task Force Division Engineers, Brigadier General CC Okwonkwo; Brigadier General MSA Aliyu and Brigadier General AM Jalingo, amongst others.
Among the Colonels promoted to the rank of Brigadier Generals are: Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel SK Usman; Acting Director of Chaplain Service (Roman Catholic) Colonel CC Iroegbu; Acting Director of Chaplain Service (Protestant), Colonel DD Danfulani, and Acting Director Islamic Affairs, Colonel SG Mustapha.
Other Colonels promoted to Brigadier Generals include: Colonel IY Dogara, Colonel EO Aikhomu, Colonel Aminu Bande, Colonel IFD Briggs, Colonel PA Alamba, Colonel UU Bassey, Colonel UT Musa, Colonel AS Ndalolo, Colonel AI Taiwo, Colonel Y Hassan, Colonel IOO Olotta and Colonel UT Utaru.
According to the army spokesperson, the approval of the promotion by the Army Council for the senior officers was the last for the year.
It could be recalled that the Nigerian Army carried out several promotion exercises for other categories of its personnel early this year, which included Junior Non-Commission Officers (JNCOs), Senior Non-Commission Officers and Warrant Officers category, as well as Junior officers from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Lieutenants, Lieutenants to Captains and from Captains to Majors.
Also Nigerian Navy approved the promotion of 73 senior officers to various higher ranks, at the week.
Navy spokesperson, Commodore Christian Ezekobe who was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, said in a statement that the exercise saw the promotion of 15 new Rear Admirals, 39 Commodores and 19 Captains.
The 15 Commodores promoted to rank of Rear Admiral are Commodore PA Onaji, Commodore MA Emuekpere, Commodore AB Lawal, Commodore TT Dakwat, Commodore SMD Usman, Commodore MC Okonkwo, Commodore FO Isaac, Commodore SA Adebari, Commodore OH Ngalabak, Commodore AB Adamu, Commodore OB Daji and Commodore COR Ezekobe (Director Naval Information). Other Commodores also elevated to rank of Rear Admiral are Commodore FF Ogu, Commodore AZ Gambo and Surgeon Commodore LM Adams.
According to the statement the 39 Captains promoted to the rank of Commodore: are Captain BM Idris, Captain I Dam, Captain AS Embuka, Captain MJI Onwuegbu, Captain AO Adepegba, Captain AA Adesope, Captain AS Olanrewaju, Captain FOY Sanusi, Captain GS Dogo, Captain SC Okeke and Captain I Zelani.
Other are: Captain MR Balarabe, Captain DD Dangwel, Captain HG Sadiq, Captain OA Bankole, Captain LC Izu, Captain EN Lamiri, Captain DF Matthew, Captain RM Shammah, Captain IA Shettima, Captain I Abbas, Captain IE Ake, Captain SA Akinwande, Captain IM Albara, Captain CE Atebi, Captain SJ Bura, Captain USA Chugali, Captain OK Oluwagbire, Captain EO Ferreira, Captain MB Hassan, Captain AA Ibok, Captain B Mohammed, Captain JA Nwagu, Captain MG Oamen, Captain HD Zakaria, Captain MC Diri-Onyenma, Captain B Iyalla, Captain JO Okosun and Captain AAO Orederu.
The 19 Commanders promoted to the rank of Captain are: Commander TT Mohammed, Commander OA Akinbami, Commander HJ Aruomaren, Commander CA Isah, Commander AO Ojebode, Commander BO Onalo, Commander A Oride, Commander MB Salisu, Commander BM Sule, Commander AA Umar, Commander AA Zubairu, Commander ZS Zuleiman, Commander IG Ikonne, Commander SI Mohammed, Commander CA Obika, Commander OA Oshatunberu, Commander KC Ozokoye, Commander JK Adediji and Commander UB Bugaje.
In the Nigerian Air Force, the Air Force Council approved the promotion of 78 senior officers to the next higher ranks.
A statement by the NAF spokesperson, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa said the promotions comprise 14 Air Vice Marshals, 19 Air Commodores and 45 Group Captains.
Those promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal include: Air Component Commander Operation Delta Safe, Air Commodore Paul Dimfwina; Commander Presidential Air Fleet, Air Commodore Saddiq Kaita; Director of Legal Services at the Defence Headquarters, Air Commodore Mahmoud Ahmed; Chief of Accounts and Budget at Headquarters Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Clement Ogbeche and; Principal Air Staff Officer to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore Abubakar Bagare.
Others include: Air Commodores Mohammed Idris, Charles Oghomwen, Napoleon Bali, Remigus Ekeh, Abdulganiyu Olabisi, Ibukun Ojeyemi, Bello Garba, Tunde Awoyoola and Cletus Udeagulu.
Senior officers elevated to the rank of Air Commodore include: Group Captains Hassan Abubakar, Tajudeen Yusuf, Ebinbowei Yinkere, Abubakar Adamu, Ibikunle Daramola, Ilemobola Amodu, Abubakar Abdulkadir, Sunday Aneke, Bgmibgbmitawuza Solomon, Lanre Oluwatoyin, Ayoola Jolasinmi, Titus Dauda, Olanrewaju Shobande, Sani Rabe, Dominic Danat, Anthony Nweke, Sayo Olatunde, Nanjul Kumzhi, and Bukkan Sani.
According to the spokespersn, the promotions were in line with one of the key drivers of the vision of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, which is “to promote and inculcate the core values of integrity, excellence and service delivery among NAF personnel.”
He said NAF undertakes annual promotion exercise to motivate officers and men towards rededicating themselves to duty, the Service and the nation.
He added that while those promoted to Group Captain rank have been decorated in their respective units, the decoration ceremony for the 33 newly promoted officers of air ranks has been scheduled for Wednesday 14 December 2016 at the Headquarters Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Abuja.
