Waidi
ShaibuLieutenant General · Nigerian Army

Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu is the 25th Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army, appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 24 October 2025. He succeeded Lt Gen Olufemi Oluyede, who was elevated to Chief of Defence Staff.

Born on 18 December 1971 in Olamaboro, Kogi State, he entered the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1989 as a member of the 41 Regular Course and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Armour Corps on 17 September 1994, holding a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Nigerian Defence Academy. Shaibu later earned postgraduate qualifications in public administration and strategic studies from institutions including the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, the University of Calabar, and the University of Ibadan. He also obtained a Master's degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the National Defense University, Washington, D.C. He has participated in several internal security and counter-insurgency operations, including Operation Lafiya Dole and Operation Hadin Kai in North-East Nigeria. Internationally, he served on peacekeeping and military assistance missions, including the United Nations Mission in Liberia and the African Mission in Sudan. Shaibu later held senior command and leadership positions within the Nigerian Army. He served as General Officer Commanding, 7 Division, and Commander, Sector 1, Operation Hadin Kai, where he was involved in counter-insurgency operations against insurgent groups in the North-East. He subsequently served as Theatre Commander of the Joint Task Force (North East), Operation Hadin Kai.

Regarded as one of the Army's most academically accomplished officers, he most recently served as Theatre Commander of Operation HADIN KAI before his appointment as Director of Armour Research at the Nigerian Army Heritage and Future Centre, and then COAS.