RismadarVoice Reporters
May 30, 2026
President Bola Tinubu has mourned the death of retired Lieutenant General Chikadibia Obiakor, the first African to serve as the United Nations Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations and the first holder of the position to simultaneously hold the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Obiakor died at a hospital in Abuja on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at the age of 75 after reportedly suffering a massive stroke.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the President described the late military officer as an exceptional patriot whose contributions to global peace, security and national development would remain enduring.
“General Obiakor’s leadership in various peacekeeping missions and his commitment to conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction across several regions of the world helped strengthen the reputation of the Nigerian Armed Forces on the global stage,” Tinubu said.
“He was a shining example of Nigerian excellence. He served our nation with distinction and carried the banner of Africa with dignity in the international arena.”
Born on February 18, 1951, in Zaria, Kaduna State, Obiakor hailed from Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. He attended the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, before enrolling at the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1971 as a member of the 10th Regular Course.
Commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1973, he rose through the ranks and served in several strategic military and international peacekeeping positions.
His most notable international appointment came in May 2008 when the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named him Military Adviser for all UN peacekeeping operations worldwide. At the time, the UN was overseeing more than 110,000 peacekeeping personnel deployed across conflict zones globally.
The appointment made Obiakor the first African and the first military adviser to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to concurrently hold the rank of Assistant Secretary-General.
He served in the role until September 2010.
Before that appointment, Obiakor was Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia and had earlier served as Commander of the ECOMOG Artillery Brigade in Liberia between 1996 and 1997, where he also coordinated the country’s elections under the regional peacekeeping mission.
Following his retirement from the Nigerian Army in 2011, Obiakor remained active in international peace and security affairs. He led and participated in several United Nations investigative panels examining conflicts and humanitarian incidents in countries including South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Among other assignments, he chaired the UN Board of Inquiry into the 2018 killing of Burundian refugees in Kamanyola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and later headed the UN Secretary-General’s Board of Inquiry into attacks on humanitarian facilities in north-west Syria between 2019 and 2020.
The United Nations also paid tribute to the late general on Friday, with UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric extending condolences to his family, friends, and the people and government of Nigeria.
President Tinubu conveyed his sympathies to the Obiakor family, the government and people of Anambra State, the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the international peacekeeping community.
