Nigeria: Will Posterity Ever Understand General Azazi's Nigeria?

13 January 2013

Many years to come, Nigerians would come across many things in honour of one of their predecessors -Andrew Owoye Azazi- a citizen who served in the Nigerian Army and like some others rose to the pinnacle of his career. If Nkpogu Road in Port Harcourt ends up a dualized road and not like some of our other roads where construction works go on without end, future Nigerians would wonder how it became Azazi Road. Some research would reveal that it was done by Rotimi Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State at the time. Along Sani Abacha Expressway in Yenogoa, they are also likely to see evidence that "Azazi the Great" was buried at the National Heroes Park near the Ijaw House. They would also find a documentation of the life and times of Owoye Azazi by the Ijaw History Project as directed by Governor Seriaki Dickson of Bayelsa State in 2012. This would no doubt provoke some posers. First, who was Andrew Owoye Azazi?

Born on February 01, 1952, Azazi had perhaps the fastest growing record as a military officer. He served as Director of Military Intelligence, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff. After retirement he was recalled to serve as the National Security Adviser. In June 2012, he was sacked without reasons. General Azazi had a Masters degree in Strategic Studies and was also a graduate of the Command and Staff College and the National War College where he won the Commander-in-Chief's merit award for best all round performance. He was a recipient of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) and was married with five children. His hobbies included reading biographies, listening to Nigerian music and playing squash. He died in a plane crash on December 15, 2012. Whereas this profile is easy to follow, future Nigerians may never get to know why someone like Azazi was at a point in our history removed from office without reasons. All that they may find is that everyone testified at his burial that Azazi was a good man.

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