Owoye Andrew Azazi

ABUJA, Nigeria - During a press conference on July 11, 2008, General Owoye Azazi, Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, discusses the role of the Nigerian military in the upcoming AFRICA ENDEAVOR 2008, a two-week, multinational military exchange exercise. "Nigeria is fully capable and prepared to host the most powerful security cooperation effort of its kind in Africa," said Azazi. "This exercise will be a demonstration of the desire globally for peaceful resolutions of African crises."

General Owoye Andrew Azazi CFR FSS MSS DSS GSS psc(+) fwc^[1] (retired) is the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and a former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Nigeria. The Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo made this appointment.

General Azazi also served as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) between 2006 and 2007. He replaced General Martin Luther Agwai. Before his appointment as COAS, he was General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Kaduna.

Personal Background

General Owoye Andrew Azazi was born at Peretorugbene in present Bayelsa State on 1 February 1952. He had his early education in old Bendel State of Nigeria where he attended Government College Bomadi and graduated in the class of 1968, after which he joined the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Combatant Cadet- Course 12 0n 3 July 1972.

Career

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, right, and Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi, Chief of Defense Staff for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, walk through an honor cordon into the Pentagon June 24, 2008, to attend a meeting.

Azazi was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 14 December 1974. At the end of the combined training he won the bronze medal for being first in Art subjects. He has served as a Brigade Intelligence Officer, Divisional Intelligence Officer and Colonel Coordination, Headquarters Directorate of Military Intelligence. He was assistant Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Nigeria, Washington DC, United States for three years. He served as a member of the Directing Staff of the Command and Staff College from where he was posted to Lagos Garrison Command as the Intelligence Officer and subsequently to the Directorate of Military Intelligence as Colonel Coordination. He was later posted to the Training and Doctrine Command as Colonel Research and Development and then Director of Training. On graduation from War College, he was appointed Colonel General Staff, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army and later Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence, Defence Intelligence Agency. General Azazi also served as a member of Directing Staff of the National War College Abuja, rising later to become its Principal Staff Officer Coordination. He was appointed Director of Military Intelligence in 2003.

The senior officer is an external examiner at the National War College and a Guest Lecturer on Military Operations Other Than War and Revolution in Military Affairs. General Azazi was a member of Nigeria’s Defence Policy Review Committee 2000/2001. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee of Nigerian Army in the Next Decade in May 2004. He was appointed the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Nigerian Army in January 2005, and subsequently appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in June 2006.

On August 20, 2008, Umaru Yar'Adua replaced Azazi with Paul Dike as CDS and announced Azazi's retirement from military service.

Azazi, has had one of the fastest growing military careers in present day democracy in Nigeria, between May, 2006 and June, 2007 the General wore the ranks of Major General, Lieutenant General and General.

On October 4, 2010 he was appointed the National Security Adviser by President Goodluck Jonathan for the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Personal life

He is married with five children, three sons in-law, a grand daughter and two grandsons. His hobbies include reading biographies, Nigerian Music and playing squash.

Education

General Azazi holds a MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan, and has completed the Staff Intelligence and Security Course, School of Service Intelligence, Ashford, Kent, UK and Combined Strategic Intelligence Training Programme, Defence Intelligence College, Washington DC, United States. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College Nigeria, and the National War College, Nigeria where he won the President and Commander-in-Chief's merit award for best all round performance.

Honors and Military Decorations

• Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR)
• Grand Service Star (GSS)
• Distinguished Service Star (DSS)
• Meritorious Service Star (MSS)
• Force Service Star (FSS)
• Corps Medal of Honour (CMH)
• Pass Staff Course Dagger (PSC+)
• National Defence College Dagger (NDC+)
• President and Commander in Chief's Merit Award

Lectures and participations

His recent seminar and conference highlights include:

• Keynote speaker at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies,National Defence University, Washington DC, January 2009
• Addressed a Seminar at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, Washington DC, September 2008 on Defense Transformation in Africa.
• Participant at the Forum on African Exit Strategies, Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN), Paris, June 2004
• Member Curriculum Review Workshop for Senior Leadership Seminar on the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies/National Defence University, USA
• Facilitator, Seminar on Energy and Security in Africa March 2005
• Participant in the OECD/DAC Workshop on Security System Reforms held in Ghana in December 2005

He was recently a guest lecturer at the Department of Psychology of the Post-Graduate School, University of Ibadan and the Friedrich Ebert Siftung Institute Sensitization Training Workshop for Experts and Personnel in the Security Sector in West Africa. He is also a Guest Lecturer on the Span of Command and Leadership at the National Defense College, Abuja, Nigeria.

Notes

1. ^ List of service schools attended etc, is from Nigerian Army website

External links

• http://www.Nigerian-army.org

Military offices
Preceded by M L Agwai	Chief of the Army Staff 2006 – 2007	Succeeded by Luka Yusuf

Military offices
Preceded by M L Agwai	Chief of the Defence Staff 2007 – 2008	Succeeded by Paul Dike

Persondata
Name	Azazi, Owoye Andrew
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Date of birth	1952
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