Oladipo Diya

Oladipo Diya was a Nigerian general and lawyer who served as Chief of General Staff (de facto vice president of Nigeria) under military head of state General Sani Abacha from 1994 until his arrest for treason in 1997. He also served as Chief of Defence Staff and as military governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985. He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and fought during the Nigerian Civil War. He later attended the US Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff College, Jaji and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. While serving in the military, he studied law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and then at the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In 1997, Diya and dissident soldiers in the military allegedly planned to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha. The alleged coup was uncovered by forces loyal to Abacha, and Diya and his cohorts were jailed. Diya was tried in a military tribunal and was given the death penalty. Upon the untimely death of Abacha in 1998, Diya was pardoned by the late Head of State's successor, Abdusalami Abubakar. Diya died on 26 March 2023 at the age of 78 after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was buried on 29 March 2023 at the Vaults and Gardens Cemetery in Ikoyi, Lagos. He was survived by eight children and many grandchildren.