Amid Nigeria’s deepening fight against insurgency and banditry, over 500 senior military officers — including Major Generals, Rear Admirals, Air Vice Marshals, and Brigadier Generals — have been forced into early retirement during the administrations of former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, investigations by Frontline Reporters reveal.
The sweeping retirements, which cut across the Army, Navy, and Air Force between 2015 and 2025, have drawn both concern and criticism within defence circles, with many questioning why such large numbers of top brass are being flushed out while insecurity festers.
Tradition or Turmoil?
Military sources trace the mass exits to the long-standing policy that compels senior officers to retire once a new set of service chiefs is appointed—especially when the new appointees are junior in rank or training course.
The tradition, meant to preserve hierarchy and discipline, has however triggered repeated waves of forced disengagements—sometimes running into hundreds of officers at once.
Data obtained from internal sources and corroborated by open reports suggest that well over 900 senior officers may have been affected, though official confirmation has remained elusive.
From Buhari to Tinubu: A Pattern of Purge
The first major purge came in 2015, when Buhari appointed Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (Army), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Air Force), and Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Navy).
That move sent over 120 senior officers, including several Major Generals and Rear Admirals, into retirement.
In 2021, another wave followed Buhari’s new appointments of Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru (late), Air Marshal Isiaka Amao, and Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo. The reshuffle triggered the exit of more than 220 officers, with 123 from the Army alone.
After the death of Attahiru and the appointment of Gen. Farouk Yahaya, further retirements swept through the ranks — over 20 Generals from Courses 35 and 36 voluntarily bowed out.
Under President Tinubu, the cycle has continued. Just weeks after assuming office in June 2023, Tinubu’s new team — Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla — sparked another purge:
51 Army Generals, 49 Air Force officers, and 17 Naval commanders were shown the door.
The latest shake-up, announced last Friday, saw new appointments at the apex of military leadership — Gen. Olufemi Oluyede (CDS), Maj.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu (COAS), Air Vice Marshal Sunday Aneke (CAS), and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas (CNS).
If the tradition holds, about 60 more generals could be forced out in the coming weeks.
Generals React: ‘The System Is Broken’
Retired Gen. Ishola Williams blasted the cycle of forced retirements as “a relic of military rule that undermines morale and professionalism.”
“You can’t just wake up and throw out officers who have given their lives to the service because someone junior got promoted,” he told Frontline Reporters. “It’s abnormal. This is not how modern militaries function.”
Another retired officer, Gen. Aliyu Momoh, commended Tinubu for asserting control over the military but warned against “cosmetic cleanups.”
“If you want a stable country, you must go deeper—remove the cabals and cartels manipulating the system from behind the scenes. Without that, we’ll keep repeating the same mistakes,” he said.
For Brig.-Gen. Adewinbi (retd.), the tradition may be harsh but inevitable.
“You can’t tell the Commander-in-Chief who to appoint. Many of us were victims. What the government can do is retain the experience of retired generals through reserve or advisory roles,” he suggested.
A Bloated Command Structure
Group Captain Sadique Shehu (retd.), a former spokesman for the Air Force, described the trend as “unsustainable and wasteful.”
According to him, by 2022, the Armed Forces had nearly 960 generals for about 235,000 troops—a ratio he called “absurd.”
“The U.S. has about 900 generals for 1.3 million soldiers. Ours is rank inflation. Some generals don’t even have real assignments,” Shehu said.
He attributed the crisis to political interference, poor manpower planning, and a lack of legislative oversight, warning that without reform, each new appointment would keep triggering “a cycle of forced exits.”
“When you promote too many people, you set yourself up for mass retirements. The National Assembly must set clear laws on appointments, tenure, and structure,” he added.
The Cost of Constant Change
While some veterans insist the retirements are routine and necessary for career progression, others argue that such instability at the top undermines strategy and continuity—particularly at a time when Nigeria faces unrelenting security threats from insurgents, bandits, and separatist groups.
“Every new chief comes with his own team, and valuable experience is lost,” said a defence analyst. “We end up with leadership fatigue, not renewal.”
As the shake-ups continue under Tinubu’s watch, experts warn that Nigeria’s military reform may be caught between tradition and transformation — unless urgent steps are taken to professionalize command succession and balance merit with stability.
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