Garba Duba (born 1942) is a retired

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigerian ...

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

who was Governor of

Bauchi State Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ea ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

from July 1978 to October 1979 during the military regime of General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

, and Administrator of

Sokoto State Sokoto State (Hausa: Jihar Sokoto Fula: Leydi Sokoto 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤧𞤮𞥅𞤳𞤮𞥅𞤼𞤮𞥅) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country on the national border with the Niger, Republic o ...

from January 1984 to August 1985 during the military regime of Major General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

Early career

Garba Duba was born in 1942. He was educated at Kontagora Primary School,

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

(1951–1954) and Provincial Secondary School,

Bida Bida is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria and a city on the A124 highway which occupies most of the area. The LGA has an area of and a population of 188,181 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 912. The city Bida i ...

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

(1956–1962). He joined the Nigerian Army as a Cadet Officer, entering the

Nigerian Military Training College The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of t ...

on 10 December 1962. One of his school classmates and army colleagues was

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

, who married Duba's cousin Maryam in September 1969. Duba later attended the Indian Military Academy, and was appointed ADC to the Military Governor of the old Northern Region. Duba was one of the northern officers who participated in the

Nigerian counter-coup of 1966 The 1966 Nigerian counter-coup, or the so-called "July Rematch", was the second of many military coups in Nigeria. It was masterminded by Lt. Colonel Murtala Muhammed and many northern military officers. The coup began as a mutiny at roughly midn ...

which led to the murder of the head of state, General

Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup, which decapitated the country's leadersh ...

, and after which General

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquish ...

came to power. Others involved in the mutiny were Ibrahim Babangida and

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

, both to later become heads of State. As a captain, he served in the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

(1967–1970), commanding a squadron of armored vehicles.

Governor of Bauchi State

Colonel Garba Duba was appointed Military Governor of Bauchi State in July 1978. He provided infrastructure in the form of residential accommodation and offices, including secretariats for the 16 Local Governments. Steyr Nigeria Limited, a tractor manufacturing company, was founded during his tenure. He established the Bauchi State Polytechnic, using one of the Teachers Colleges as premises. The rector was given Duba's brigade commander's guest house as his quarters, and army offices for administration. He expanded the number of Teacher Training Colleges and introduced Schools of Basic Studies on the site now used by the

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) is a federal university of technology located in Bauchi, north east Nigeria. The university is named after the first and only Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. ...

. His administration supervised orderly elections for the

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...

in 1979, handing over to the elected governor

Tatari Ali Alhaji Abubakar Tatari Ali (c. 1929 – 28 May 1993) was elected Governor of Bauchi State, Nigeria in 1979, holding office until the military coup on 31 December 1983 that brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power. In 1971, Ali was head of the M ...

on 1 October 1979.

Later career

Later he was appointed Military Administrator of Sokoto State (1984–1985). Other posts included Commanders of 2nd Mechanised Division (1987–88), Commander of 3rd Armoured Division and Commandant,

Nigerian Defence Academy The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of t ...

(1990–1992). He retired in 1993, after thirty-one years of active military service. After retirement, he entered business, holding positions that included Chairman of the New Nigerian Development Company, Chairman of SGI Nigeria Limited, Director of

First Bank of Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria Limited is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company in Lagos, Nigeria. It is the premier bank in West Africa. The First Bank of Nigeria Limited operates as a parent company, with the subsidiaries 'FBN B ...

, a non-executive director of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc since August 1998, and chairman of the board of Leadway Pensure, a pension fund administration company.

References

Living people 1942 births Nigerian Muslims Sokoto State Nigerian Army officers Nigerian Defence Academy Commandants Participants in the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup Participants of coups in Nigeria Governors of Bauchi State Nigerian military governors of Sokoto State Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War {{Nigeria-mil-bio-stub