Suraj Alao Abdurrahman (9 September 1954 – 28 January 2015), was a

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

general who served as the Command Officer in Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia, with former Liberian president

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gol ...

as the Commander-in-Chief. According to then President Johnson Sirleaf, General Abdurrahman "was an exceedingly exceptional gentleman officer whose contributions lifted the

Armed Forces of Liberia The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and r ...

to professional greatness and emplace our military amongst UN peacekeepers”.

Biography

Abdurrahman was born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

where he had his primary education at LEA Primary School, before proceeding to the Keffi Government College for his secondary education. He graduated with division 1 distinction in the

West African Senior School Certificate Examination The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a type of standardized test in West Africa. Students who pass the exam receive a certificate confirming their graduation from secondary education. It is administered by the West A ...

in 1972. He thereafter proceeded to the School of Basic Studies of the

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at present time within four local government areas in Kaduna State. It serves as the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council and is one of the original sev ...

until July 1973 when he was admitted into the

Nigeria Defence Academy The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria, that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of ...

as a member of the 14th regular combatant course. In 1975, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Nigeria Army Corps of Engineers. Abdurrahman held multiple commands, instructor and staff appointments in the course of his career both locally and internationally. In January 2007, he became the Chief of Policy and Plans for the Nigerian Army. It was from that post that he was appointed the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia. He effectively commanded the AFL from 6 June 2007 to 11 February 2014, when he handed over to a Liberian Officer. In the course of his Service, General Abdurrahman attended various military and civil courses. He was an alumnus of the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineers (NASME). Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) as well as the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

where he graduated with distinction. Abdurrahman returned to the Ahmadu Bello University for his

bachelor of sciences A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1979 and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1981, capping it with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

In 1985.

Death

He died on 28 January 2015 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sent a message of condolences to the Government of Nigeria. He was survived by his wife, Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman and his four sons, Surajudeen, Abduljabbar, Abdulaziz and Abdulmalik.

Honors and awards

Abdurrahman received the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) conferred on him by the Nigerian President in 2014. He was also the recipient of the National Honour Award of “Knight Commander” in the Humane Order of African Redemption by the President of Liberia in 2014, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) from Nigeria in 2007 and the Liberia’s highest military honour, the Distinguish Service Order (DSO) from the president of Liberia in 2009.

Appointments

:* GSO 3 Training, HQ Nigerian Army Engineers,

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

(1976/77) :* Staff Officer Architecture Army HQ,

(1981/83) :* Instructor, School of Military Engineering,

Makurdi Makurdi is the capital of Benue State, located in central Nigeria, and part of the Middle Belt region of central Nigeria. The city is situated along the Benue River. In 2017, Makurdi's urban population was 517,342. The town is divided by the Ri ...

(1986/88) :* Commanding Officer, 21 Support Engineer Regiment,

(1989/91) :* Military Observer, UN

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Observer Mission, (1991/92) :* Commanding Officer, 13 Field Engineer Regiment, Jos (1992/93) :* Directing Staff, Command & Staff College, Jaji (1993/95) :* Directing Staff,

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Command & Staff College, Teshi (1995/97) :* Colonel Personnel Services, Army HQ,

(1997/99) :* Commander, 43 Engineer Brigade,

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

(1999/2000) :* Director Army Real Estate, Army Engineer HQ,

(2001/2002) :* Directing Staff, National War College,

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

(2002/2004) :* Director of Operations, DAOPs (AHQ), Abuja (2004) :* Director of Policy (2005) :* Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation (2006/2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdurrahman, Suraj Nigerian generals Liberian military personnel 2015 deaths Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Ahmadu Bello University alumni Instructors at the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College 20th-century Nigerian architects 1954 births