15 Facts About Benjamin Adekunle

Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle was a Nigerian military officer and prominent military figure during the Nigerian Civil War.

Benjamin Adekunle's father was a native of Ogbomosho, while his mother was of the Bachama ethnicity.

Benjamin Adekunle underwent secondary education at the Government College, Okene.

Benjamin Adekunle enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958 shortly after completing his school certificate examinations.

Benjamin Adekunle passed the army selection examinations and thereafter was despatched to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, the British Army's initial officer entry academy.

Benjamin Adekunle was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on December 15,1960.

In 1964, Major Benjamin Adekunle attended the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, in India.

Benjamin Adekunle later assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt.

Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division, Benjamin Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos.

However, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle did not think the name "3 Infantry Division" was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight.

Benjamin Adekunle held this position until being compulsorily retired on 20 August 1974.

Benjamin Adekunle attributed his problems during and after the war to his rivals in the army.

Benjamin Adekunle had large followings in both the army and public at large and was the most popular military commander during the war, apart from Obasanjo, who succeeded him and brought the war to an end with the same 3MC.

Benjamin Adekunle led the Third Marine Commando Division with such great panache and determination that the foreign media, in looking for a human angle on the Biafran war, found him a ready source of news.

Benjamin Adekunle died on 13 September 2014 and was buried in the Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi, Lagos.