Late Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Taoreed Lagbaja

The Commander of Training and Doctrine Command, Maj Gen Kelvin Aligbe and Coursemate of late Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Lagbaja, has disclosed that out of their set, comprising 199 Cadet officers of 39 regular course who began their training at the NDA on September 12, 1987, General Lagbaja Stood out as a born leader.

He said it was therefore not surprising that during his service in the Army and to the country, he was the only person to ever command a battalion twice and Brigades more than once.

Course colleagues at the Christian Service Songs ceremony held at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja on Thursday night, which witnessed a high turnout of people including security operatives from sister security agencies

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Aligbe said, “On the 12th of September, 1987, I, then officer cadet, Taoreed Lagbaja, and 199 of us assembled for training as members of the 39 regular corps.

“We trained and were commissioned together into the armed forces. Right from time, he led with no doubt. He was, first and foremost, an Operational Commander.

“Little wonder that while commands in the services are sometimes difficult to come by, he had the privilege of being the only person, if my memory serves me right, to have commanded a battalion at two different times.

“He commanded Brigades at two different times. He was a General Officer Commanding at two different times.”
“He was primed for the operation that he led, through which, even though they say soldiers don’t die, his memories fade away.

“The only way I and my course mates and the other members of the armed forces, officers and soldiers that he left behind can honour his memory truly is to continue with what he believed in. He believed in service. He gave everything at the risk of sounding immodest. I don’t know if we gave him enough.”

He urged the military community to embody the values of service and dedication that Lagbaja held dear.

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