₦airaland Forum

The civil war hero according to a family source died about 1am, Friday, January 16, aged 87.

The death of Colonel Adegboyega Adeniran was announced on Friday, January 16, 2026. He was 87 years old.
​Colonel Adeniran was a valiant soldier who played a pivotal role in the Nigerian Civil War. Serving alongside the late General Murtala Muhammed, his boss. He was a key figure in the Battle of Ore, widely regarded as one of the fiercest and most decisive confrontations of the conflict. You must have heard the popular Yoruba saying that goes,
"Ó lẹ́kù ìjà, Ọrẹ́"
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​His leadership left a lasting impression on those who served under him, including the legendary Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister.
In his album Òkè Àgbà, Barrister reminisced about his military days under Colonel Adeniran,
​For many years, listening to that track brought a sense of comfort, knowing that this war hero was still among us. It is so sad to acknowledge his passing a few days ago, a poignant reminder of the natural cycle of life.
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​Colonel Adeniran served as the Brigade Commander of the 103 Battalion, the unit in which the then-Sergeant Sikiru Ayinde Barrister served. Barrister further affirmed their connection in another album Precautions,
​Beyond the battlefield, the Colonel was a visionary for his community. He made significant contributions to the educational development of Ogbomoso by founding the city’s first private school and the second in the old Western State, Ayọ̀ká Nursery and Primary School, and later, Adeniran Memorial Grammar School 1n 1978.
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According to book makers, the duo of Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and then Lieutenant Colonel Adeniran prepared the stage for the eventual surrender of the Biafran rebels.
He joined the Nigerian Army and attended the Nigeria Military Training School (NMTS) graduating in 1962 but excelling so exceedingly above his peers , he was retained by the authorities to be the first non British Military Instructor. It was his good fortunes to teach the NMTS 62 boys,
Gen Muhammed Buhari
Gen Ibrahim Babangida
Gen Muhammed Magoro
Gen Sanni Abacha
Colonel Sanni Bello
( Ex Governor and now a big time International businessman and perhaps the richest retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army whose son became Niger State Governor)

Gen Gidado Nasko
Gen Ibrahim Bako, etc etc
(Call Colonel Adeniran, Baba Awon Presidents And You Won't Be Wrong. He Trained 3 Nigerian Presidents)

He fought with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission In Congo ,
And during the Nigerian Civil War ( 1967-70) he was a distinguished officer as106 Battalion Commander in the Second Infantry Division renowned for his heroic roles in rescuing Uromi, Ubiaja, Benin, Asaba and Onitsha from the Biafran rebels.

At the end of the war, he was appointed the Garrison Commander @ Uromi.

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‎The contributions of the two top theatre commanders in terms of territories conquered, deployment of tactics, organizational abilities and leaderships dwarfed that of Obasanjo. Both were frontline commanders, always found in the hottest theatres of war. Their appearances at any battlefront sent terror waves down the spines of the secessionists.
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‎As for Adeniran, he was once reported captured and surrounded on all sides by the rebel forces. Rather than surrender, he vanished from the views of his captors. When he reappeared, he wore a menacing look of a spirit with his family masquerade (Oya Oriiri) dashing forward in tow. Such were the myths and feats that surrounded Col. Adeniran.
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‎One can go on and on writing about this unsung hero of the Nigerian Civil War without stopping. He was the soldier of soldiers.

​In his later years, he relocated to the United States. ​Baba was truly blessed with a long, impactful, and fulfilled life. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

If he served under Murtala Mohammed during the war then he was part of the Asaba massacre

Civil war hero my foot!

Every Tom ,Dick and Harry is a civil war hero. Heroism is now so cheap that people who committed genocide against women and children when they could do any magic in the battlefield are now classified as heroes .

Please name one heroic achievement he did.

May his soul RIP

kettykin:
Every Tom ,Dick and Harry is a civil war hero. Heroism is now so cheap that people who committed genocide against women and children when they could do any magic in the battlefield are now classified as heroes .

Please name one heroic achievement he did.

May his soul RIP

Why not google his name and check his role during the civil war.

Stop commenting ignorantly

Mode, please move it to the front page.

kettykin:
Every Tom ,Dick and Harry is a civil war hero. Heroism is now so cheap that people who committed genocide against women and children when they could do any magic in the battlefield are now classified as heroes .

Please name one heroic achievement he did.

May his soul RIP

But Ojukwu who caused the “genocide against children and women” is considered a hero.

Amotolongbo:
But Ojukwu who caused the “genocide against children and women” is considered a hero.

Ojukwu caused the genocide? The genocide your own Nigeria government did?

Why would your Nigerian government commit genocide because of Ojukwu? After committing the genocide, what has 'one Nigeria' achieved today?

British racists forced together people who do not know how to progress together with progressive igbos, tagged 1966 coup igbo coup through bbc Hausa service then, supported Gowon to commit genocide against Igbos to wipe igbo out of existence just for their own selfish reasons because they saw igbo intellect and science and technology minded rapid advancement for a black race then as a threat and that’s why Nigeria is in a mess today but today white British racists have become a minority in their own country while igbos have recovered and continue to increase in population . Read Why we struck -book that explained the events that caused the 1966 coup that eventually led to the war by one of the participants in the coup- Major Ademola Ademoyega and also the book “In Biafra black Africa died”

Amotolongbo:
But Ojukwu who caused the “genocide against children and women” is considered a hero.

How exactly did Ojukwu cause the genocide, when it was the Nigerian military’s failure on the battlefield that pushed them to use starvation to force Biafra to surrender? Anyone who has read foreign accounts of the war especially reports from British and Soviet diplomats knows the Nigerian army was struggling badly in the early stages. There was very little they could do militarily against Biafran resistance at the time.

Biafra repeatedly stopped and defeated the Nigerian 2nd Division in key battles, forcing withdrawals and reorganizations. Ogbunigwe weapons played a major role, shocking Nigerian troops and stalling their advances. Stories about entire divisions being completely wiped out may be exaggerated, but the fact remains: the 2nd Division failed over and over to achieve a quick victory, and Nigerian commanders were under serious pressure because of it.

That failure is what led to the change in strategy. Since Nigeria could not win decisively on the battlefield, it turned to blockade and starvation a deliberate policy backed by Britain and the Soviet Union — to break Biafra. This was not about military brilliance or moral superiority; it was about choking Biafra into submission when fighting alone was not enough.

Even Nigerian officers later admitted, including in Babangida’s book, that the army went into the war unprepared and had to learn as it went. Biafra did not fall because it was out-fought early on; it fell because it was isolated, out-supplied, and deliberately starved.

kettykin:
How exactly did Ojukwu cause the genocide, when it was the Nigerian military’s failure on the battlefield that pushed them to use starvation to force Biafra to surrender? Anyone who has read foreign accounts of the war especially reports from British and Soviet diplomats knows the Nigerian army was struggling badly in the early stages. There was very little they could do militarily against Biafran resistance at the time.

Biafra repeatedly stopped and defeated the Nigerian 2nd Division in key battles, forcing withdrawals and reorganizations. Ogbunigwe weapons played a major role, shocking Nigerian troops and stalling their advances. Stories about entire divisions being completely wiped out may be exaggerated, but the fact remains: the 2nd Division failed over and over to achieve a quick victory, and Nigerian commanders were under serious pressure because of it.

That failure is what led to the change in strategy. Since Nigeria could not win decisively on the battlefield, it turned to blockade and starvation a deliberate policy backed by Britain and the Soviet Union — to break Biafra. This was not about military brilliance or moral superiority; it was about choking Biafra into submission when fighting alone was not enough.

Even Nigerian officers later admitted, including in Babangida’s book, that the army went into the war unprepared and had to learn as it went. Biafra did not fall because it was out-fought early on; it fell because it was isolated, out-supplied, and deliberately starved.

You have been deliberately told the wrong stories or you intentionally read the wrong books

gidgiddy:
Ojukwu caused the genocide? The genocide your own Nigeria government did?

Why would your Nigerian government commit genocide because of Ojukwu? After committing the genocide, what has 'one Nigeria' achieved today?

Or what has biafra achieved by itself?