A TRIBUTE TO TWO DESERVING MILITARY OFFICERS*

Gen. John Shagaya and late Gen. Joe Garba are military officers, I admired. The last appointment of Gen. Joe Garba before he passed on was DG, NIPSS, Kuru, Jos. Coincidentally, Gen. John Shagaya's appointment was also as DG, NIPSS. Both are from Langtang and belonged to the dreaded Langtang Military Mafia.
I met Gen. Joe Garba, one on one in London, in 1976 through his younger brother and my friend,  then Captain Sunny Garba, who was his ADC. My relationship with Sunny started in the early 70s as a High School student in Lagos. My paternal aunt had her house on 86 Obalende Rd, at the corner of Obalende Rd  and Keffi street, right opposite Dodan Barracks, then the seat of power.
In 1976, Joe Garba was then Commissioner(Minister) of External Affairs. Representing Nigeria, in the Commonwealth Summit in London, he was a delight to watch and an attraction to the British media for interviews. That almost sparked a conflict between the Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'adua's camp that led the Nigerian delegation to the summit  and Joe Garba's camp. Joe Garba influence and charisma, overshadowed that of Shehu Musa Yar'ardua. This spilled over to Major Jokolo and Captain Sunny Garba, both ADCs to the two Generals. The two ADCs, were consequently disarmed, to forestall escalation of the conflict or division in the delegation. I am not sure this was reported in the Nigeria media at the time.
I returned to Nigeria in 1979 after my studies for the NYSC assignment in Kaduna. Gen. Joe Garba was the Commandant of the NDA, Kaduna. Our path crossed once again.
I had two friends(medical Doctors) at the NDA enrolled into the Direct Short Service(DSS) Course. Their military hero then was late Mamman Vasta. They claimed he was a brilliant military officer and a poet. I had not heard of Vasta at the time, but I told them that they had a most brilliant military officer as their Commandant, in Joe Garba. We held on to our opinions.
Few weeks, later, my friends came back to me smiling and admitted that I was right in my assessment of Joe Garba.
What convinced them? They said Joe Garba came into the lecture room without any note or text book and lectured them on OAU. What can anyone lecture or talk about on OAU, in anytime more than 30 minutes? Joe Garba lectured for two hours, non stop on the subject!
I met Gen. John Shagaya for the first time in 2015 as co-members of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, in Abuja at the Aso Rock Villa, Festival Hall. He was head of the Security Committee and I was a member of the Transport & Logistics Committee. We both came early for a scheduled PIC meeting and while waiting for others and members of his committee to arrive, he sat with myself and few other committee members. When his security committee members arrived, including present DG, DSS, Lawal Daura, Gen. India Garba AIG Bawa Lawal and other top security officers, I stood up to take my leave and jokingly said that "bloody civilians" are not for the security committee. He politely told me to sit down and lectured us on how the term "bloody civilians" came about.
Post PIC, I met him early last year, 2017, with his younger sister at the National Hospital, Abuja, still without an appointment for him. That saddened me. However, he encouraged me to be patient as things will get better for good. In our circle at the time, we thought John Shagaya will be appointed as either the Minister of Defence or Minister of Internal Affairs. This did not come to pass.
At last, he got appointed as the DG, NIPSS to reposition the Institute. His last posting outside his military postings! He died! On a road he travelled several times, day and night! The question posed by this post highlighted is was he *simply killed*? Just like Joe Garba before him? My condolences to the people of Langtang, the families of the two Generals, their military constituency and Nigeria, for the loss of the two great and selfless Nigerians.
This riddle, just as others, may not be unravelled.
Rest in peace, Generals Joe Garba and John Shagaya. Your struggles for a nation and  to install this government, will not be in vain.

Edwin Ogunbor