Pa. Adama Aduku, Nigeria’s oldest surviving soldier is dead, who stole the show at the 2019 Nigerian Army Day celebrations (NADCEL) held in Lagos, is dead.
The late Adaku who was presented with an award of excellence by Vice President Yemi Osibajo, given to him by the Nigerian army, died at the age of 101.
His death was revealed by a source on the Whatsapp platform of the Director of Information, Defence Headquarters on Wednesday morning.
Born in 1918 to a peasant farmer at Abejukolo-Ife, at Omaha Local Government Area of Kogi State, Aduku joined the army in 1945.
The old man, who was the centre of attraction during the 2019 NADCEL in an interview with Punch Newspapers said he was still very strong in bed at his age.
The old soldier who said he never planned to join the army, however, had a change of mind when one day he met a young man who assaulted their local chief.
“I was coming back from the farm one evening when I saw a man who was younger than me at the time beating our village head,” Aduku recalled with nostalgia as he shared his life’s story.
“The man named Salikawa was a soldier who resorted to beating up our chief for refusing to carry his bag and seeing him off to his house, which was 10 miles away.
“When the matter was reported to the District Officer, the chief was advised to obey the soldier in his own interest or face whatever consequences that resulted from that.
“I was very angry and bitter and I made up my mind to join the military so that I could go back to the village and also beat up Salikawa for humiliating our chief,” Pa. Aduku said in the interview.
Aduku was one of those conferred with the Chief of Army Staff World War II Veteran Award at the 2019 Army Day Celebration in Lagos.
He joined the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1942 in Markurdi, Benue State, and trained in Laguna and was deployed to India during World War II. He fought at Calcutta.
He returned to Lagos in 1946 and was of the 4 Brigade Guard Group until he was discharged in that same year.
He rejoined the Nigerian Army in 1950 in Zaria and was finally discharged in 1957 as a private soldier.
Until his death, Aduku was a farmer in Ibejukolo Omala Local Government Area in Kogi State.
According to the source on the Whatsapp platform of the Director of Information of the Defence Headquarters, Aduku died December 31, 2019.
The Nigerian Army has confirmed the death of the old soldier.
