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Seven things Nigerians will remember about late former military vice-president, Oladipo Diya

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The former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Donaldson Oladipo Diya, died in the early hours of Sunday at the age of 79.

Diya also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council during the regime of the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha and Chief of Defence Staff in a distinguished military career.

As CGS, he was Nigeria’s de-facto vice president during the late Abacha regime.

On a parting shot, Ripples Nigeria compiled seven things Nigerians will remember about the soft-spoken army officer.

He was born on Monday, April 3, 1944 in Odogbolu, Ogun State, then Western Region, Nigeria. He would have been 79 on his next birthday.

Diya attended Yaba Methodist School, Lagos, from 1950 to195, before proceeding to Odogbolu Grammar School, from 1957 to 1962. He later joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in March 1967. He also fought in the Nigerian Civil War.

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The deceased attended the United States Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff College, Jaji, and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. He also studied Law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and attended the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to Bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Diya served as the Sole Administrator/Military Governor of Ogun State during the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari from January 1984 to August 1985.

He served as the General Officer Commanding 82 Division from 1991 to 1993 and Commandant, National War College from 1991 to 1993.

Diya narrowly escaped death from a bomb explosion at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, in 1996.

In December 1997, Diya and some top military officers including Maj-Gen Tajudeen Olanrewaju, and Maj-Gen Abdulkarim Adisa were arrested over an alleged plot to overthrow the Abacha regime. He was tried in a military tribunal and sentenced to death. But following the death of Abacha on June 8, 1998, He was pardoned alongside others by Abacha’s successor, Abdusalami Abubakar.

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