Profile of Chief of Army Staff, Major-General IbrahimAttahiru

MAJOR-GENERAL IbrahimAttahiru
was born on August 10, 1966, in Doka, Kaduna North Local Government Area, Kaduna State. He is a graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy(NDA), Armed Forces Command
and Staff College and Nigerian Army School of Infantry. He commenced his cadet training in January 1984 and was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant in December 1986 as an infantry officer.
General Attahiru has held several appoint- ments on the staff, instructional and in com- mand. He had a tour of duty with the United Nations in Sierra Leone as a military observer, where he facilitated United Kingdom military engagement, Operation Barass in September 2000. He was an operations officer and later
company commander in NIBATT 19, ECO- MOG, in Liberia.
He had the unique privilege of having com- manded with distinction all through the chain of command in the Nigerian Army. Prominent among these appointments were Commanding Officer 146 Battalion Nigerian Army (Operation HARMONY IV) in the Bakassi Peninsula, Com- mander, 13 Brigade, Nigerian Army (Operation PULO SHIELD), General Officer Commanding, 82 Division, Nigerian Army.
He was one time Theatre Commander, Operation LAFIA DOLE (the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency outfit in northeastern Nigeria). It is on record that he brought relative stability to the region with the surrender of several Boko Haram combatants.
On the staff, he was unit Adjutant, 7 Bat- talion, Nigerian Army, Sarti. Chief of Staff, 1 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Sokoto. General Staff Officer, Grade 1 Training/Operations as well as Staff Duties/Plans at the Headquarters 1, 2 and 81 Divisions of the Nigerian Army.
He was Deputy Director, Military Secretary 2, at the AHQ MS (A) and one-time Director, Army Public Relations. He was later Direc-
tor Staff Duties and Deputy Chief of Policy
and Plans at the Army Headquarters. He was equally privileged to serve as Chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation and Chief of De- fence Logistics at the apex organ of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
In that position, he worked with the US Defence Logistics Agency on the Vertically Integrated Logistics Approach (VILA) pro- gramme towards enhancing the operational readiness in the Armed Forces of Nigeria. He was privileged to be an instructor at the Depot Nigerian Army, Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army School of Infantry. He was later a directing staff and chief instructor at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State.
General Attahiru has been exposed to leader- ship and professional development programmes atgloballyrenownedinstitutions. Hewasatthe National Defence College, Kenya, for the Nation- al Defence Management and Security Studies Course and at the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Special Forces Academy, Shijiazhuang-Hu- bei Province, China, for the Basic and Advanced Special/Operations Commando Forces courses.
He has undertaken leadership and security policy courses at the prestigious Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA, Graduate School of Media and Communication, Agha Khan University, Kenya, Bournemouth University Disaster Management Center and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
The general has several honours and awards to his credit. He holds a master’s degree in Stra- tegic Management and Policy Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Master of Science in Human Resources Management and Develop- ment from Salford University in the United Kingdom and Graduate Diploma in Internation- al Studies from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. General Attahiru, is happily married and blessed with children.