Abubakar Hashim
Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor’s death, three days ago on May 27, 2026, in Abuja, has continued to generate waves of tributes from countries where he served with distinction throughout his illustrious career.
Liberian President Joseph Boakai, his Sierra Leonean counterpart, Julius Maada Bio, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres have sent condolences to his bereaved family and the Nigerian government.
He successfully commanded the ECOMOG military brigade between 1996 and 1997, and later served as the chief coordinator for Liberia’s landmark 1997 elections, which stabilised the war-torn country.
He was later appointed Force Commander in Liberia under the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
Between 2008 and 2010, he became the first African to be appointed Military Adviser at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Even in retirement, he continued to be consulted by the UN. In 2011, he was assigned by the organisation to head sensitive panels on conflicts in South Sudan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
He was the first African and the only Nigerian to serve a distinguished career in national security and international diplomacy, earning an enviable reputation for tactical brilliance and strategic leadership in both domestic military governance and international conflict resolution.
In Sierra Leone, when late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was overthrown in 1997, he was the lead strategist who facilitated President Kabbah’s peaceful exit into exile in neighbouring Guinea, thereby preventing bloodshed.
Late Obiakor was a soldier-diplomat of immense value, not only to Nigeria but also to Africa and the global community at large.
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