Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau's Profile

Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau was born in 1954 to the family of Alhaji Bala Dambazau and Hajiya Hajara Bala Dambazau. After his primary school education in Zaria, he gained admission into the prestigious Barewa College in the same town in 1970.  On graduation in June 1974, he went to the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna as a member of the 17 Regular Combatant Course.  He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army in June 1977.

During the course of his military career, he has held numerous command, instructional and staff appointments. Until his appointment as the 17th Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army, an army with over 100 years of history, he was the General Officer Commanding 2 Division Nigerian Army.

As part of his numerous contribution on training, General Dambazau served as the Registrar/Instructor, Nigerian Defence Academy from 1993 - 1999 and later Chief Instructor, at the Support Weapon Wing of the Infantry Centre and School from 1999 - 2001 before becoming  a Directing Staff at the then National War College from 2004 - 2006.  Subsequently, he became the Director, Higher Military Organization and Operations at the same Institution in 2006.  This earned him the highly revered appellation of the Fellow of the War College Dagger (FWCD).

Lieutenant General AB Dambazau has also held several Staff appointments before his appointment as the 17th Chief of Army Staff.  He was a Staff Officer at the Headquarters of the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police (NACMP) in 1979 before he became an Aide-de-Camp to the then Chief of Army Staff.  He was also a Special Investigator at the Special Investigation Bureau of the NACMP from 1984 - 1985.  Subsequently, he was appointed Military Assistant to the Director Army Training and Operations at the Army Headquarters.  Lieutenant General Dambazau also served as the Principal General Staff Officer to the Honourable Minister of Defence (PGSO-HMOD) in 2006.  In January 2007, he was appointed the Chief of Army Standard and Evaluation (CASE).

Since his commission as an officer, General Dambazau, in addition to the Young Officers' and Surveillance Platoon Commanders' Courses has attended at the then Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) in 1978, he has over the years attended both civil and military courses within and outside Nigeria that earned him several academic qualifications and awards. These includes the United States Military Police School, Fort MacLelan where he earned a Diploma in Military Police Basic Training, Kent State University, Ohio, from 1980 - 1984, for a Bachelors' Degree in Criminal Justice and Masters Degree in International Relations.  He also attended the University of Keele, United Kingdom where he was awarded a Doctorate Degree in Criminology.  He also attended Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College for his Senior Division course from 1991 - 1992. The Chief of Army Staff was also at the Infantry Centre and School, Jaji for the Commanding Officers' Course before proceeding to India's National Defence College, New Delhi in 2003 for his Higher Strategic Military Course.

General Dambazau has an excellent flair for writing cutting across diverse aspect of human endeavours.  In addition to his doctorate thesis, he authored five books as follows:

a.             Military Law Terminologies, Spectrum Books Limited, 1990.

b.             Law and Criminality in Nigeria, University Press, 1994.

c.             Issues in Crime Prevention and Control in Nigeria, Baraka Press, 1996.

d.             Criminology and Criminal Justice, Nigerian Defence Academy Press, 1999.

e.             Criminology and Criminal Justice, Second Edition, Spectrum Books, 2007.

He has also written over eleven published papers on the United Nations, the Media, Human and Drug Trafficking, as well as on Democracy and the Rule of Law among other topics.  A highly versatile senior officer, he is a member of seven national and international professional bodies. A highly decorated senior officer, General Dambazau possesses many military honors and awards, qualifications and commendations.

Source:www.nigerian-army.org