1st RepublicMinister of Defence· 1960 — 1965
Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu
First Federal Minister of Defence. The Ribadu Lines, Apapa, named for him.
The record
Muhammadu Ribadu (1910–1965), Sardauna of Adamawa, was a founding member of the Northern People's Congress and the first Nigerian Minister of Lagos Affairs (1957) before assuming the Defence portfolio at Independence.
He oversaw the Nigerianisation of the officer corps following the departure of the last British General Officer Commanding in 1965, and the establishment of the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna.
He died in office on 1 May 1965, eight months before the January 1966 coup.
Sources
- Nigerian Army — official histories of the 1960s
- Trevor Clark, A Right Honourable Gentleman: The Life and Times of Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Hudahuda, 1991)
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.