Daunting tasks certainly await Major General Farouk Yahaya, who was on Thursday appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He replaced the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru who died in a plane crash in Kaduna along with 10 others last week.
Below are some quick facts about the new Chief of Army Staff.
1. Farouk Yahaya was born on January 5, 1966 in Sifawa, Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
2. He is a member of the 37 Regular Course of the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
3. Yahaya started his cadet training on 27 September 1985 and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on 22 September 1990.
4. Yahaya has held several appointments including Staff, Instructional and Command.
5. The new COAS was Garrison Commander, Headquarters Guards Brigade, Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC).
5. He was Deputy Director, Army Headquarters, Department of Military Secretary, Deputy Director Army Research and Development.
6. He was the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield.
7. He served as the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the Honourable Minister of Defence, the Commander, Headquarters 4 Brigade and 29 Task Force Brigade (Operation Zaman Lafiya).
8. Yahaya was also Director Manpower at the Army Headquarters, Military Secretary, Army Headquarters and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army.
9. He was the Theatre Commander Operation HADIN KAI, responsible for Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
10. The new COAS is a proud holder of several honours and awards, some of which include, Forces Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Distinguished Service Star, Grand Service Star, Passed staff course (Dagger), National Defence Course (Chile), Economic Community of West Africa State Monitoring Group Medal, among others.
