Buratai praises General Adeniyi for 'uncommon leadership' after he was redeployed following video of him complaining about poor equipment

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has praised Maj. Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi for the successes recorded under his leadership as Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD).

This came after the uproar that trailed the redeployment of the army general as a research fellow at Nigerian Army Resource Centre(NARC) in Abuja, few days after a video of him complaining about Boko Haram insurgents having more ammunition than soldiers went viral.

At a dinner organised in honour of Adeniyi at the Military Command Guest House in Maiduguri on Saturday night, Buratai said the emergence of the General as the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD), marked a turning point in the fight against Boko Haram.

The COAS said;

“Adeniyi came at a point when virtually most of the FOBs were falling and his coming was a turning point in Lafiya Dole’s operation.

“He never led from the rear, he is always in the front; that is the type of leadership that is required and that is an excellent attribute of a field leader. I have always emphasised that you must lead by example.

“This one; no matter the lapses, no matter the inadequacies and no matter what happened, nobody can take that away from him as part of his successes.

“He came at a time when things were already crumbling and his leadership style turned things around to bring us to where we are today.

“So Adeniyi, be rest assured that you have made your mark. You are leaving the Theatre, but you will be required to share the experience you have gathered here. You will be consulted accordingly.”

Maj.-Gen. Farouq Yahaya, who took over as the new Theatre Commander of OPLD, assured the COAS that he would do his best to achieve the vision, mandate and objective of the operation.