By Elsie Udoh
Lt-General Donaldson Oladipo Diya, a former Chief of General Staff, reportedly died on Sunday.
The former high-ranking military officer breathed his last in the early hours of Sunday, according to a statement issued on behalf of the family by Barrister Oyesinmilola Diya.
Diya, who died at age 78, was the de facto second-in-command to the late military dictator, Sani Abacha.
Here are 10 things to know about the late Diya.
1. He was born on Monday, 3 April 1944, in Odogbolu, Western Region, now Ogun State, Nigeria.
2. Diya attended Yaba Methodist School, Lagos from 1950–1956 then proceeded to his hometown as a pioneer student of Odogbolu Grammar School, from 1957–1962.
3. He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, and fought during the Nigerian civil war.
4. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in March 1967. He later attended the US Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff College, Jaji from 1980–1981 and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.
5. While serving in the military, Diya studied Law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.
6. He later proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
7. He was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994.
8. He was the de facto Vice President of Nigeria during the Sani Abacha military junta from 1994 until he was arrested for treason in 1997.
9. In 1997, Diya and dissident soldiers in the military allegedly planned to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha, but this coup was uncovered by forces loyal to Abacha, and Diya and his cohorts were jailed. He was later given a death penalty but was pardoned by the late Head of State’s successor, Abdusalami Abubakar, upon the death of Abacha in 1998.
10. He served as the Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985.
