The Nigerian Army on Monday marked the beginning of Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede’s tenure as the 24th Chief of Army Staff with a symbolic lowering and hoisting of the command flag at Army Headquarters.
Oluyede was appointed by President Bola Tinubu on October 30 in an acting capacity following the death of his predecessor, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja. His appointment was subsequently confirmed by the Senate and House of Representatives.
In an earlier ceremony on November 1, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, formally handed Oluyede the insignia of office in accordance with the Armed Forces Act.
Before his appointment, Oluyede served as the 56th Commander of the elite Infantry Corps in Jaji, Kaduna. A member of the 39th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1992, with an effective seniority date of 1987, and attained the rank of Major General in September 2020.
The 56-year-old Oluyede and the late Lagbaja were coursemates at the academy, sharing decades of professional camaraderie. The flag-hoisting ceremony signifies the formal start of his leadership of the Nigerian Army.
