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Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time - Politics (4) - Nairaland

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Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Dede1(m): 6:28pm On Nov 01, 2012
maxsiollun: At the time of the coup OBJ was the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (i.e. he was not even holding a military position). He was in a political position, totally disconnected from the army and without command of troops. On the other hand, Danjuma was the Chief of Army Staff and held command of the entire army, and IBB was the head of the armoured corps. Other officers who held political positions and did not command troops also hid. Maj-Gen James Oluleye laid low in his office then went home in mufti.

As for foreign peacekeeping ops. Here is a summary of the commanders of Nigerian peacekeeping ops over the years:

General Martin Luther Agwai
Lt-Gen Joshua Dogonyaro
Lt-Gen Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor
Lt-Gen SVL Malu
Lt-Gen Joseph Owonibi
Maj-Gen Edward Unimna
Maj-Gen Festus Okonkwo
Major General JTU Aguiyi Ironsi
Major General Chris Garuba
Major General Ekundayo Opaleye
Major General Geoffrey Ejiga
Major General S Iliya
Major General Collins Ihekire
Major General Rufus Kupolati
Major General Ishaya Bakut
Major General John Mark Inienger
Major General Timothy Shelpidi
Major General Felix Mujakperuo
Major General Gabriel Kpamber
Major General Mohammed Magoro
Brigadier John Shagaya
Brigadier Adetunji Olurin



I am disappointed with your vacillation on the subject matter. A good historian such as you should have known and done better than you have demonstrated. In one instance Aguiyi Ironsi did not command any army or military unit, yet in another instance you listed him as among the Generals who did nothing but commanded a unit with UN peacekeeping ops. As a General, Ironsi commended the entire UN Peacekeeping force and as a Lt Col, commended Nigeria’s 5th battalion in Congo.
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by demmy(m): 6:43pm On Nov 01, 2012
SapeleGuy: When other countries talk about great generals they talk of conflict against foreign armies.
Here you are celebrating brother killing brother. Big disgrace.

Nothing wrong with this. During the American civil war Ulysses S. Grant commanded the U.S army against the rebels. He later became U.S president.

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Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by demmy(m): 6:47pm On Nov 01, 2012
maxsiollun: Astute points Igbanibo. Maj-Gen (as he then was) Dogonyaro made a strategic impact when commanding ECOMOG in Liberia. It was strange that IBB withdrew him so quickly, and the ECOMOG mission never had the same dynamism after that.

Col Shuwa has been commended many times for his textbook command of 1 Div during the civil war. Such a shame that a disciplined and conventional Sandhurst trained officer such as he was not permitted to command the army.


Do you remember the officers that were in command when the Nigerian army invaded Freetown Besides Gen. Maxwell Khobe of course.
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by bigrovar(m): 12:23pm On Jan 08, 2013
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I could not help but post having read through every post that Only one mention of IMHO the greatest Nigerian General of our time and One of my all time Nigerian Hero - Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe.

I have done some extensive reading on Nigeria's Mission to Sierra Leone and Liberia and even spoken to Sierra Leonians and read accounts from many journalist who covered the war, and personal journals from infantry boot on the ground. One name which everyone in my reading always mention with respect and admiration is General Maxwell Khobe.
He is known as the general who always lead from the front armed only with his radio. During the Jan 6 1999 invention of Freetown while Major-General Timothy Shelpidi, his deputy, Brig. General Abu Ahmadu and a host of other middle level officers ran to Lungi Airport instead of staying back to lead their troops. Other junior officers hired speedboats and ran to Guinea to hide. It was Gallant officers like Brig. General Maxwell Khobe, Brig General Kpamber and a few others stayed behind and chose death before dishonor. They gallantly stayed back and fought the rebels while most of their officers ran away. sadly the sacrifices of these soldiers had never been acknowledged by the Nigerian military. Here is an account of from BBC's own Mark Doyle of his encounter with this great General
He arrived with his men, near the Freetown front line. According to a soldier who was there, he looked at the smoking battlefront and then began walking towards it, saying, as cool as a cucumber, "Gentlemen, let's go".

Khobe from every account was the type of general who always lead his men from the front. here is another account from New African, Jun 2000 by
Asante, Ben Khobe was a joy to watch at the front. He kept encouraging the troops to move forward. Several times we went to the front at first light only to discover that the men had withdrawn from the positions we left them the evening before. Many factors caused the pull back. Ammunitions were not delivered after they ran out or no food supplies came through. Other times rumours circulated that the rebels were coming with anti-aircraft guns, and lacking effective cover the men just pulled back. Wherever Khobe went, the troops seeing him surged forward and just kept going.

He was also witty and forward thinking. Like how he acted quickly in removing Foday Sankoh from the Pademba Maximum Security Prison where he was on death row. Had he not removed Sankoh, the fate of Sierra Leone and the outcome of the 1999 invasion would have been different.

Khobe was a professional soldier through and through turning down political appointment from IBB in 1985. He was named the chief of defence staff of the Sierra Leone army in recognition of his effort in the lighting action, of Ecomog troops who marched into the capital and seized the centre of Freetown including the State House with Koroma’s junta in flight.

He got injured from shrapnels which got lodged in his back on duty in freetown but only only went for treatment after the rebels signed a peace greement. His back hurt him most times but he walked with a limp and put up with the pain than abandon his post. Though the first operation was successful. Khobe later died from complications of this injury in london. Although largely unknown in Nigeria Khobe is widely popular in sierra leone where major roads are named after him. He in my opinion is the greatest Nigerian General. General Khobie was a brave soldier whose tough and wily tactics overcame the generally low level of training and equipment in the Nigerian army. He used tactics more familiar to the African terrain. These included the widespread use of surrogate local forces and the distribution of patronage. Above all, it involved an intimate knowledge of the enemy which perhaps only an African commander can muster in this sort of war.
The death of the Nigerian commander was such a blow to the confidence of many in Sierra Leone. To most ordinary people there he was a hero, the man who protected their elected President. I is a great Nigerian Hero and The greatest Nigerian General

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Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Pygru: 3:21pm On Jul 26, 2013
Baba Iyabo
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Ibrahimmrfish(m): 5:15pm On Jul 26, 2013
Bello dan-hodio.His ability to defeat the 7 hausa kingdom,and the 7 non-hausa kingdom of north. The battle with the katisna calvery,ten thousand horses aginst 4 thousand men,without horse.And the first battle with Gorbir.Bello is the most succeful general in Nigeria.
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by fash1964(m): 8:31pm On Jul 26, 2013
Late General Maxwell Khobe, EECOMOG Commander and former Chief of Army Staff, Sierra Leone.

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Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Cashio(m): 8:39pm On Jul 26, 2013
Ibrahim mr fish: Bello dan-hodio.His ability to defeat the 7 hausa kingdom,and the 7 non-hausa kingdom of north. The battle with the katisna calvery,ten thousand horses aginst 4 thousand men,without horse.And the first battle with Gorbir.Bello is the most succeful general in Nigeria.
....but must u show u are hausa and illiter*te
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Ibrahimmrfish(m): 9:54pm On Jul 26, 2013
Cashio: ....but must u show u are hausa and illiter*te
First of all,i'm not a hausa.And mr man,do u really know the meaning of illiterate? Please go back to school or use something call the dictionary.I am just a huge fan of history,something low life son of a 100naira hoker like u,will never know.
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by obenze: 2:17pm On Oct 10, 2014
Onlytruth:
Generals should be evaluated on the basis of bravery in battle and superior military strategic and tactical thinking in defense of the country against FOREIGN enemies. To evaluate Nigerian Generals on the basis of their performance in the civil war is disingenious to say the least. In fact I would go a step further to say that the Biafran "Generals" are the ones to be so evalutated because they fought to defend Biafra against a foreign enemy -Nigeria. For as long as the Nigerians believed that they were fighting against fellow Nigerians in "Biafra", then how can one evaluate that?
I want to see Nigerian Generals evaluated on their performance against Cameroun in Bakassi. In that assessment, only one General could really be evaluated because he was the only one brave enough to even attempt a war with Cameroun. That General was General SANI ABACHA.
God bless abeg u gt sense
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by obenze: 2:21pm On Oct 10, 2014
SapeleGuy:
When other countries talk about great generals they talk of conflict against foreign armies.
Here you are celebrating brother killing brother. Big disgrace.
tell them
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Nobody: 1:28pm On Apr 29, 2015
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari led the 3rd Armoured Division in a swift and highly successful counter-offensive against Chadian troops during the brief war in 1983.
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by Demmzy15(m): 2:42pm On Apr 29, 2015
This includes Napoleon, Khalid ibn Al-Walid, Amr Ibn Al as, Salahudeen Al Ayyubi and Genghis Khan grin grin

GMB my hero, FAYEMI my role model! tongue
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by blunts007: 4:31pm On May 22, 2017
General sani abacha comes 1st, Maxwell Kobe comes 2nd (aka superman)
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by blunts007: 4:35pm On May 22, 2017
fash1964:
Late General Maxwell Khobe, EECOMOG Commander and former Chief of Army Staff, Sierra Leone.
this man is a legend I salute him, I heard his story from. My uncle who served under him. (superhuman) when this man was around there was no shaking!!!
Re: Greatest Nigerian War General Of All Time by blunts007: 4:45pm On May 22, 2017
bigrovar:
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I could not help but post having read through every post that Only one mention of IMHO the greatest Nigerian General of our time and One of my all time Nigerian Hero - Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe.

I have done some extensive reading on Nigeria's Mission to Sierra Leone and Liberia and even spoken to Sierra Leonians and read accounts from many journalist who covered the war, and personal journals from infantry boot on the ground. One name which everyone in my reading always mention with respect and admiration is General Maxwell Khobe.
He is known as the general who always lead from the front armed only with his radio. During the Jan 6 1999 invention of Freetown while Major-General Timothy Shelpidi, his deputy, Brig. General Abu Ahmadu and a host of other middle level officers ran to Lungi Airport instead of staying back to lead their troops. Other junior officers hired speedboats and ran to Guinea to hide. It was Gallant officers like Brig. General Maxwell Khobe, Brig General Kpamber and a few others stayed behind and chose death before dishonor. They gallantly stayed back and fought the rebels while most of their officers ran away. sadly the sacrifices of these soldiers had never been acknowledged by the Nigerian military. Here is an account of from BBC's own Mark Doyle of his encounter with this great General
He arrived with his men, near the Freetown front line. According to a soldier who was there, he looked at the smoking battlefront and then began walking towards it, saying, as cool as a cucumber, "Gentlemen, let's go".

Khobe from every account was the type of general who always lead his men from the front. here is another account from New African, Jun 2000 by
Asante, Ben Khobe was a joy to watch at the front. He kept encouraging the troops to move forward. Several times we went to the front at first light only to discover that the men had withdrawn from the positions we left them the evening before. Many factors caused the pull back. Ammunitions were not delivered after they ran out or no food supplies came through. Other times rumours circulated that the rebels were coming with anti-aircraft guns, and lacking effective cover the men just pulled back. Wherever Khobe went, the troops seeing him surged forward and just kept going.

He was also witty and forward thinking. Like how he acted quickly in removing Foday Sankoh from the Pademba Maximum Security Prison where he was on death row. Had he not removed Sankoh, the fate of Sierra Leone and the outcome of the 1999 invasion would have been different.

Khobe was a professional soldier through and through turning down political appointment from IBB in 1985. He was named the chief of defence staff of the Sierra Leone army in recognition of his effort in the lighting action, of Ecomog troops who marched into the capital and seized the centre of Freetown including the State House with Koroma’s junta in flight.

He got injured from shrapnels which got lodged in his back on duty in freetown but only only went for treatment after the rebels signed a peace greement. His back hurt him most times but he walked with a limp and put up with the pain than abandon his post. Though the first operation was successful. Khobe later died from complications of this injury in london. Although largely unknown in Nigeria Khobe is widely popular in sierra leone where major roads are named after him. He in my opinion is the greatest Nigerian General. General Khobie was a brave soldier whose tough and wily tactics overcame the generally low level of training and equipment in the Nigerian army. He used tactics more familiar to the African terrain. These included the widespread use of surrogate local forces and the distribution of patronage. Above all, it involved an intimate knowledge of the enemy which perhaps only an African commander can muster in this sort of war.
The death of the Nigerian commander was such a blow to the confidence of many in Sierra Leone. To most ordinary people there he was a hero, the man who protected their elected President. I is a great Nigerian Hero and The greatest Nigerian General
May the soul of this great general rest in peace.. He was superhuman thats what my uncle told me he still has a t-shirt with Maxwell Kobe on it..

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