Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has joined other well-meaning Nigerians to speak on the life and time of the late Oladipo Diya, who was the second-in-command to the then military dictator, late General Sani Abacha, from 1994 to 1997.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on
Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo remarked that the demise of Diya has depleted the ranks of the nation’s leadership, saying the nation has lost a resourceful patriot, who served the nation as an Army Officer, community leader and a legal practitioner.

Obasanjo noted that in his three decades in military service, Diya acquitted himself as a dedicated officer and a real patriot, especially from the thick of the Nigerian Civil War to the post-war re-organisation of the Army.The former Military Head of State explained that Diya’s rare diligence, loyalty and resourcefulness earned him various appointments such as Commander 31, Airborne Brigade; Military Governor of Ogun State; General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Nigeria Army in 1985; Commandant, National War College, 1991–1993 and later he functioned as the number two man under Abacha.“I recall as a Military Governor of Ogun State, he made a tremendous mark through dedication to duty, loyalty to his fatherland and an impeccable example of incorruptible leadership. He was courageous and quite a disciplinarian and a no-nonsense officer,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.