Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), is the second-highest rank of the

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 ...

and generally it is the highest active rank as the Nigerian army do not have any appointment in the rank of

full general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

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 An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

. The rank of lieutenant general is usually held by the Chief of Army Staff. Lieutenant general is a superior rank to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, but subordinate to a (full) general. The rank has a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

rank code of

OF-8 An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

, equivalent to a vice-admiral in the

Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy (NN) is a branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is among the largest navies on the African continent, consisting of several thousand personnel, including those of the Coast Guard. History The Nigerian Navy owes its origin t ...

and an air marshal in the

Nigerian Air Force The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the youngest branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is one of the largest in Africa, consisting of about 15,000 personnel and aircraft including eight Chinese ...

(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 An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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 Jeremiah Timbut Useni (born 16 February 1943) is a retired Nigerian army lieutenant general, who served as minister responsible for the administration of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja under the Sani Abacha military junta. He served Nigeria ...

, who was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister under General Sani Abacha, while, Lt-Gen

Ishaya Bamaiyi Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, (born 21 September 1949) is a retired Nigerian Army Lieutenant general and former Chief of Army Staff (Nigeria), Chief of Army Staff. His older brother was Major General Musa Bamaiyi, former Head of the National Drug Law En ...

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 Martin Luther Agwai (born 8 November 1948) is a retired Nigerian army officer who served as Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff. He is the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Calabar Early life and education Agwai was born on No ...

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. The most recent case was that of the promotion of Maj-Gen

Lamidi Adeosun Lamidi Adeosun (born 22 August 1963) is a retired Nigerian Army lieutenant general. Early life Adeosun was born in Ola-Oluwa Local Government of Osun State on 22 August 1963. Military career He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army on 4 ...

to the rank of lieutenant general in July 2019 while Lt-Gen

Tukur Buratai Tukur Yusuf Buratai (born 24 November 1960) is a retired Nigerian army lieutenant general, former Chief of Army Staff (appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2015), and Nigeria's Ambassador to the Republic of Benin. He was commissi ...

was still Army Chief. 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 A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

under different regimes) usually held a

like in the cases of Lt-Gens

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 presid ...

and

Oladipo Diya Donaldson Oladipo Diya (born 3 April 1944) is a Nigerian general who served as Chief of the General Staff, (''de facto'' Vice President of Nigeria) under military head of state General Sani Abacha from 1994 until his arrest for treason in 1997. ...

, both of whom never served as the Chief of Army Staff.

List of Nigerian Army Lieutenant generals

Since 1960, 32 officers have attained this rank. Among them, one officer, (

) attained this rank while he was Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (de facto vice president), another officer, (

) attained this rank before becoming Chief of General Staff (de facto

), 19 served as the Chief of Army Staff, 5 of them (

Ipoola Alani Akinrinade Ipoola Alani Akinrinade (born 3 October 1939) is a retired Nigerian Army lieutenant general, who was Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Nigeria from October 1979 to April 1980, and then Chief of Defence Staff until 1981 during the Nigerian Second Repu ...

, Gibson Sanda Jalo, Domkat Yah Bali,

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 ...

and

) served as Chief of Defence Staff while holding this rank, Bali and Abacha were later promoted to the rank of

full General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

. 6 of them (

, Gibson Sanda Jalo,

Alexander Ogomudia Alexander Odeareduo Ogomudia (born 29 December 1949) is a retired Nigerian army general who served as Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria from 2003 to 2006 and Chief of Army Staff from 2001 to 2003. Biography The Nigerian Army officially des ...

and

Owoye Andrew Azazi Owoye Andrew Azazi (1 February 1952 – 15 December 2012) was a Nigerian army general who served as National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, was Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Nigeria, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Befo ...

) served in both positions.

References

{{reflist Military ranks of Nigeria Nigeria

Usage

List of Nigerian Army Lieutenant generals

See also

References