1st Division (Nigeria)
The 1st Division is a formation of the Nigerian Army, which traces its history to 1967.
In August–September 1967, 1 Area Command at Kaduna was redesignated 1 Infantry Division, and 2 Division was formed under Colonel Murtala Mohammed.[1]
"At the end of the Civil War, the three divisions of the army were reorganised into four divisions, with each controlling territories running from North to South in order to deemphasise the former regional structure. Each division thus had access to the sea thereby making triservice cooperation and logistic support easier. This deployment formula was later abandoned in favour of the present assignment of sectors to the divisions. Thus 1 Division with HQ at Kaduna is allocated the North West sector; 2 Division with HQ at lbadan South West sector, 3 Division with HQ at Jos North East sector and 82 Division with HQ at Enugu South East sector."
Division headquarters remains in Kaduna in the north-west.[2]
1 Division
| 1 Division | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 241 Recce Battalion | Nguru | |||||
| 1 Mechanised Brigade(Sokoto) | ||||||
| 65 Mechanised Battalion | ||||||
| 81 Motorised Battalion | ||||||
| 223 Light Battalion | ||||||
Other formations of the division include the 3rd Brigade (Kano), 41 Division Engineers, a signals formation of brigade size, and the 31st Artillery Brigade.[3]
Commanders
- Col M Shuwa JSS 30 Aug 67-20 Sep 69[4]
- Brig ID Bisalla Psc 24 Sep 69-14 Dec 73
- Brig IB Haruna JSS 15 Dec 73-31 Jul 75
- Maj Gen AO Ogomudia 11-12-1998
Owoye Andrew Azazi was appointed the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Nigerian Army in January 2005, and subsequently appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in June 2006.
References
- ↑ General Olunsegun Obasanjo, 'My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War 1967-70,' Heinemann, Ibadan/London/Nairobi, p.18 (Via Joint Services Command and Staff College Library)
- ↑ Army Games Begin in Abeokuta
- ↑ Ravi Rikhye, Concise World Armies 2012, Orbat.com.
- ↑ http://www.army.mil.ng/divisions, accessed October 2013.