Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), is the second-highest rank of the Nigerian Army and generally it is the highest active rank as the Nigerian army do not have any appointment in the rank of full general 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.
The rank of lieutenant general is usually held by the Chief of Army Staff.
Lieutenant general is a superior rank to major general, but subordinate to a (full) general. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-8, equivalent to a vice-admiral in the Nigerian Navy and an air marshal in the Nigerian Air Force (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 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, who was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister under General Sani Abacha, while, Lt-Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi 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 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 to the rank of lieutenant general in July 2019 while Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai 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 under different regimes) usually held a three-star rank like in the cases of Lt-Gens Olusegun Obasanjo and Oladipo Diya, both of whom never served as the Chief of Army Staff.
List of Nigerian Army Lieutenant generals Since 1960, 37 officers have attained this rank. Among them, one officer, (Olusegun Obasanjo) attained this rank while he was Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (de facto vice president), another officer, (Oladipo Diya) attained this rank before becoming Chief of General Staff (de facto vice president), 21 served as the Chief of Army Staff, 5 of them (Ipoola Alani Akinrinade, Gibson Sanda Jalo, Domkat Yah Bali, Sani Abacha and Oladipo Diya) served as Chief of Defence Staff while holding this rank, Bali and Abacha were later promoted to the rank of full General. 7 of them (Ipoola Alani Akinrinade, Gibson Sanda Jalo, Sani Abacha, Alexander Ogomudia, Martin Luther Agwai, Owoye Andrew Azazi and Olufemi Oluyede) served in both positions.
No Name Promoted Retired Born Died 1 1976 1979 1937 2 1976 1979 1938 3 1979 1981 1939 4 1980 1984 1939 2000 5 1981 1984 1940 2021 6 1987 1990 1940 2020 7 1987 Nil 1943 1998 8 1992 1993 1942 2024 9 1992 1993 1935 2018 10 1992 1993 1941 11 1992 1999 1943 2025 12 1992 Nil 1944 1998 13 1992 1998 1944 2023 14 1992 1993 1940 2021 15 1992 1993 1943 16 1995 1999 1946 2005 17 1996 1999 1949 18 1999 2001 1947 2017 19 2001 2006 1949 20 2003 2009 1948 21 2004 2004 – – 22 2005 2005 1949 23 2005 2011 1951 24 2006 2008 1952 2012 25 2007 2008 1952 2009 26 2008 2010 1954 27 2010 2014 1956 28 2014 2015 1959 29 2015 2021 1960 30 2019 2021 1963 31 2021 Nil 1966 2021 32 2021 2023 1966 33 2023 Nil 1968 2024 34 2024 In service 1968 35 2025 In service 1971 36 2025 In service 1968 37 2025 2025 1968
See also
General (Nigeria) Military ranks of Nigeria List of Nigerian Army full generals
References