Former Chief of General Staff, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, is dead. He died at 68.
Akhigbe, whose position in the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), headed by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, made him the military vice-president in the junta that superintended the return to democracy in 1999, died at the weekend in England.
Based on what was gathered, the deceased had been battling with cancer for a long time.
Before his appointment as the chief of general staff following the death of the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, in 1998, Akhigbe, who hailed from Edo State, was the Chief of Naval Staff.
After his retirement from the navy he went to read law and became an attorney with specialisation in Maritime and Real Estate Law. He was a seasoned businessman with substantial interests in Real Estate.
During his military career that spanned several decades, he was the Principal Welfare Officer of the Nigerian Navy Flagship NNS Aradu, military governor of Lagos and Ondo States, Director at the Naval Headquarters and Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command.
Akhigbe attended the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Royal Naval School of Maritime Operations Dryad, Southwick the United Kingdom, Command and Staff College Jaji, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru and University of Piotiers, Rouna, France.