The forceful retirement of the generals contradicts the claim by the Defence Headquarters last week that none of its personnel had been retired following the appointment of Mr Yahaya, who belonged to Regular Course 37.
Mr Yahaya, a major general, from Sokoto State, was named the army chief by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 27.
Shortly after the appointment of the new COAS, there were speculations that between 30 and 45 generals, who are his seniors, may be asked to go home.
The senior generals belong to Regular Courses 35 and 36.
It is a tradition in the military that when a junior is appointed as a service chief, senior officers, who are ahead of him or her, would proceed on retirement.
The understanding is that senior military officers are unlikely to take orders from their juniors.
Mr Yahaya, a major general, from Sokoto State, was named the army chief by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 27.
Shortly after the appointment of the new COAS, there were speculations that between 30 and 45 generals, who are his seniors, may be asked to go home.
The senior generals belong to Regular Courses 35 and 36.
It is a tradition in the military that when a junior is appointed as a service chief, senior officers, who are ahead of him or her, would proceed on retirement.
The understanding is that senior military officers are unlikely to take orders from their juniors.
The Defence Headquarters, however, dismissed the speculations of massive retirement, saying the retirement of senior officers from the military was always ‘voluntary’.
Yahaya succeeds Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, who died on May 21 in a plane crash alongside 10 other military personnel while on official assignment to Kaduna State.
A memo sighted by PREMIUM TIMES indicates that a total of 29 Army major generals have been approved to proceed on terminal leave, paving way for their eventual retirement.
Among the generals are J.B Olawumi, J.O. Akomolafe, C.O. Ude, G. Oyefesobi, M.O. Uzoh, C.C. Okonkwo , M.S.A. Aliyu, U.M. Mohammed, B.M. Ashafa, N.E. Angbazo, Y.P. Auta and S.A. Yaro. (See the full list below).
Their leave was approved with effect from June 1, 2021.
Below is the full list of generals proceeding on retirement:
1. JB Olawumi
2. JO Akomolafe
3. CO Ude
4. G Oyefesobi
5. MO Uzoh
6. CC Okonkwo
7. MSA Aliyu
8. UM Mohammed
9. BM Shafa
10. NE Angbazo
11. YP Auta
12. SA Yaro
13. J Sarham
14. HE Ayamasoawei
15. OF Azinta
16. BA Akinroluyo
17. KAY Isiyaku
18. AT Hamman
19. AM Aliyu
20. HPZ Vintienagba
21. HR Momoh
22. JR Unuigbe
23. AA Jidda
24. OI Uzomere
25. MH Magaji
26. LA Adegboye
27. MA Masanawa
28. OA Akinyemi
29. AM Dauda
A government of nepotism can never be trusted. More reason the country have failed woefully.
ReplyDeletepure nepotism, why the country is not moving forward.
DeleteDo you even know the meaning of nepotism? Do you think officers like Jidda, Sarham, Isiyaku, Magaji etc are from the South? Or you think Olawunmi who’s not a combatant officer can be Army chief. Lots of clueless people spew nonsense on social media sha.
DeleteMr I know it all @ Anon 17:50... I guess you are blind or one of the numerous ass lickers we have in the country. Check all the major appointments the president has made and see where they come from? Whatever your foolish logic is, why would the president appoint a lower rank officer instead of the next in line? even if the next in line is from the same region, he/she deserved to be appointed instead of a lower rank officer.
DeleteMumu that’s not how it works. Next in line is not a pre-requisite. Why didn’t GEJ appoint Gen. Monguno instead of Gen. Ihejirika who was lower in rank then.
DeleteThis Country Nigeria/UAR belongs to everyone of us, therefore the Agenda of the North/Fulanis will never come to pass in Jesus Name, every of their evil and wicked counsel shall be turn tO foolishness....
ReplyDeleteAmen
DeleteAmen o!
DeleteLIARS!!
ReplyDeleteBelieve ndị APC at your peril.
I was wondering why the denial, it is standard practice for the military to retire senior officer if and when their juniors are promoted.
More than half of these generals are from the southern region... SMH
ReplyDeleteDon't mind them. At least MURIC IS HAPPY.
DeleteCommon!!! @Poshhajia you too, i wasn't expecting this from you seriously, so you didn't see hausa names there abi, must we complain about everything, seriously i tire for this country.
Delete@Last born don’t mind them. It’s because of people like them government world over are looking for ways to regulate social media. They opine authoritatively on things they know nothing about.
DeleteSuch a wasteful nation. Meaning none of the retired men, was qualified to be COAS. Resources used in training them were not recouped because of some selfish officers or "big civilians" somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThe only few Southerners that are qualify to be COAS are from the SW and the Chief of Air staff is already from the SW. The remaining Southern officers are not qualified because they are from the support services corps and not the combatant Corp.
DeleteJust imagine............WICKED GOVERNMENT
ReplyDeleteD number of armored vehicles I see filling into d barracks (Ojoo ibadan ) yesterday evening! It is well
ReplyDeleteThis government.....
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and thank God for them. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Not all their course mates were opportuned to attain this height. They are entitled to a driver, an ordely and a cook at atleast 2m every month for life. They can't stay and be paying compliment to their junior the news COAS, that's the procedure
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and thank God for them. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Not all their course mates were opportuned to attain this height. They are entitled to a driver, an ordely and a cook at atleast 2m every month for life. They can't stay and be paying compliment to their junior the news COAS, that's the procedure
ReplyDeleteGod bless you o.most of them don't know the procedure.
DeleteMainly Southerners!!! Nepotism at its peak! The new COAS was chosen to force Generals who are Southerners out of the Army!!! The Buhari’s Government is terrible !
ReplyDeleteU get brain.
DeleteI know 2 people from this list. Ayamasa and Okwonkwo
ReplyDeleteWow....you know cc okwonkwo too?This world is a small place indeed....
DeleteChai! all the Southerners that could step up later has been retired!, so the next crop of senior officers will still be a northerner, so if there is a next call, a northerner will still be the COAS. Nigeria is a finished state, no longer failed, but finished!
ReplyDeleteYou know what this means right? I don see this thing for one other blog. Their plan to place mainly northerners in power and military positions is well under way. So that when they wanna start dealing with southerners it will be easy for them
ReplyDeleteAnon 21:09 Hitlers followers had this your mind set after Hitler played on their ignorance and fed them conspiracy bullshit like this.
DeleteDon't just spew nonsense all in the name of commenting. Army does not work that way. So many things are put into consideration. Naturally because of the pride that comes with the job, they won't want to work under him, so the best they can do is to retire voluntarily. If they still want to continue working,bah wahala.is ihejirika from the north?minimah that succeeded him is neither from the north. There are still Senior officers from other states in NA.
ReplyDeleteSo why is it that when it comes to appointments, we'll be hearing Mohammeds and Abubakars; when it comes to retirement we start hearing Okonkwo, Momoh and Adegboye. It is tooooo obvious that that list is skewed disadvantageously against the South. I refuse to believe that the choice of the new COAS and its ripple effect on the military hierarchy is not another move on the 'chess board' for an Islamization agenda. Meh una shine eye!
ReplyDelete