Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS) after the death of Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru last Friday in a plane crash in Kaduna.
Before his appointment, much is not known about the new army chief by the general public and this post is to inform our readers about him.
Mr Yahaya was born on January 5, 1966, in Sifawa, Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto State. He is a member of the 37 Regular Course of the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and started his cadet training on September 27, 1985, and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on September 22, 1990.
He has held several appointments including Staff, Instructional and Command. Notable among the appointments held by the new COAS are Garrison Commander Headquarters Guards Brigade, Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Deputy Director Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary, Deputy Director Army Research and Development and the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield.
Mr Yahaya also served as the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the Minister of Defence, the Commander, Headquarters 4 Brigade and 29 Task Force Brigade (Operation Zaman Lafiya).
He was also Director Manpower at the Army Headquarters, Military Secretary, Army Headquarters and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army.
Until his appointment as the COAS, the army chief was the Theatre Commander Operation Hadin Kai, responsible for Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency operations in North-East Nigeria.
The new COAS is a proud holder of several honours and awards, some of which include, Forces Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Distinguished Service Star, Grand Service Star, Passed staff course (Dagger), National Defence Course (Chile), Economic Community of West Africa State Monitoring Group Medal, Command Medal, Field Command Medal, General Operations Medal, Silver Jubilee Medal and Golden Jubilee Medal. He is happily married and blessed with children.
