Army gets new 21 Generals, spokesperson now one-star General

The Army Council has approved the promotion of 227 senior officers from various ranks to the next higher ranks in the Nigerian Army.

Among those promoted include the army spokesperson, Colonel Sani Usman, who is now a Brigadier General.

National Daily gathered that 21 Brigadier Generals have been elevated to Major Generals, 93 Colonels to Brigadier Generals and 113 Lieutenant Colonels to Colonels.

Those promoted include Brigadier General CM Abraham Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division, Brigadier General OU Obono, Acting Corps Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Artillery Corps, Brigadier General PJ Dauke Acting GOC 3 Division and Brigadier AA Nani Acting GOC 8 Task Force Division, as well Brigadier General JB Olawunmi, Acting Coordinator, Nigerian Army Aviation Corps.

Others are Brigadier General CC Okwonkwo, Commander 48 Task Force Division Engineers, Brigadier General MSA Aliyu and  Brigadier General AM Jalingo,  who were all promoted to the rank of Major General.

The Colonels promoted to the rank of Brigadier Generals are 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.

Others include the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani 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.

Promotion in the Nigerian Army is an annual exercise by the Service to qualified personnel who have distinguished themselves over stipulated period of time.

Earlier in the year, the Nigerian Army carried out several promotion exercises for other categories of its personnel. These include the 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.

It was gathered that the approval of the promotion by the Army Council for the senior officers is the last for the year.

The promotion exercise is expected to re-energise the beneficiaries towards the discharge of their onerous tasks and responsibilities.