The only Army generals Nigeria ever had- compiled by Nduka John

Within the ranking of the Nigerian Army there exists, for reasons which shall soon be made known, a very exclusive level of Generalship where few have so far been privileged to rise to. In all, the Nigerian army has produced a total of eleven four-star generals throughout her long history.

General Yakubu Gowon

General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon was the first ever General the Nigerian army had produced. He was a former and the youngest head of state (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. As a Lieutenant colonel power was suddenly bestowed on him after one military coup d'état that got senior officers silenced. During his rule, the Nigerian government successfully prevented Biafran secession during the 1967–70 Nigerian Civil War. Although, for some reasons he was stripped of his rank in 1976, but it was restored in 1987 by General Ibrahim Babangida.

General Murtala Muhammed

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army in the 1961, On July 30, 1975; Murtala Muhammed got promoted from the rank of brigadier to general in one hop. Like General Gowon, he was a former head of state (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1975 to 1976 when he was assassinated alongside his aide de camp. Thanks to Muhammed phrases like "Fellow Nigerians" and "with immediate effect" were added to the national lexicon.

General Olusegun Obasanjo

Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo was the first head of state and Army general to be the democratic President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. In 1958, the age of 21, he was enlisted in the Nigerian Army. He attended the 6-month Short Service Commission training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England, and was thereafter commissioned as an officer in the Nigerian Army. However, Of all the officers commissioned prior to the attainment of Nigerian political independence in 1960 and who underwent their preliminary officer training at the British West Africa-owned Regular Officers Special Training School (ROSTS)at Teshie in Ghana, only Olusegun Obasanjo and Gibson Jalo attained the rank of lieutenant general by direct promotion to same. In April 1979, he was promoted to the rank of four-star general.

General Ibrahim Babangida

General Babangida enrolled at the Nigerian Military Training college on December 10, 1962, passed out on April 20, 1963, and was later commissioned in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.On January 5, 1981, he was appointed Director, Army Staff Duties and plans and he was promoted as Major General on March 1, 1983. He relinquished his appointment to become the chief of Army Staff on December 31, 1983. General Babangida was also a member of the Supreme Military Council – the highest policy formulating body of the government between August 1, 1975 and October 1979. He was re-appointed to the same vital government organ when the military took over the reins of power from civilians on December 31, 1985 in his new capacity as the Army boss. He combined both appointments until August 27, 1983 when he became the head of state and Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces. On October 1, 1987 Babangida was promoted a full General.

    

General Domkat Yah Bali

He was Minister of Defence and member of the Supreme Military Council of 1984-1985, and the Armed Forces Ruling Council of 1985-1990. Bali joined the Nigerian Army in 1961 and is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He resigned from the army on January 10, 1990 after President Babangida took over his post as minister for defence and later took up farming as a hobby. Assumptions have been made that he resigned because of babangida took over his office but here is what he said “if it was that, I disagreed very strongly because of the switch in position, Babangida would have listened to me. Maybe I resigned because I felt I had overstayed my welcome, if you like. Since my juniors had come and gone, why should I be tagging around?” General Domkat Yah Bali still remains the only general during the military regime that did not become the head of state.

General Mohammed Sani Abacha

General Abacha's military career is distinguished by a string of successful coups. He is by some records the most successful coup plotter in the history of Nigeria's military. Abacha, then a 2nd Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion in Kaduna, took part in the July 1966 Nigerian counter-coup from the conceptual stage. He may have been a participant in the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the coup in the previous January as well. He was also a prominent figure in the 1983 Nigerian coup d'état which brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power in 1983, and the August 1985 coup which removed Buhari from power. Abacha was the first Nigerian soldier to attain the rank of a full General without skipping a single rank and Only Sani Abacha ever rose to become military Head of State whilst he was on the substantive rank of four-star general.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar
The last head of state of Nigeria, He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha's death. It was during Abubakar's leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on 5 May 1999, which provided for multiparty elections. Abubakar transferred power to president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo on 29 May 1999.
General Alexander Ogomudia
General Alexander Odeareduo Ogomudia joined the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) as a cadet on 13 October 1969. At the successful completion of his cadet training, he was commissioned on 11 March 1972 into the Nigerian Army Signal in the rank of Second Lieutenant with effect from 13 October 1969. Ogomudia was the first signals officer to become COAS in Nigerian history. The position had traditionally been monopolised by infantry and armour officers, particularly Infantry.. General Ogomudia then a Major General was appointed Chief of Army Staff Nigerian Army (COAS) on 1 April 2001 and later the Chief of the Defence Staff of Nigeria from 2003 to 2006. General Ogomudia was the first Army Officer to attain the rank of a full (four star) General in the Nigerian Army during a civilian regime. 
General Martin Luther Agwai
The former chief of Army staff defence staff and chief of Defence staff was commissioned into the Nigerian Armed Forces in 1972. Before becoming the Chief of Army Staff, he was the Deputy Military Adviser at United Nations Headquarters, New York. He served as the commander of the combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. General Agwai led one of the biggest peacekeeping operations in the world with approximately 20,000 troops and 6,000 police under his command. In a statement made available on BBC, he was quoted to have said that: "We are not here to conquer anybody; we are not here to compel any peace. We are here to work with the Sudanese people - both the government and the parties to assist them to find peace. We are not here to impose peace. We are not here to fight anybody."
General Andrew Owoye Azazi
The former chief of Army staff defence staff and chief of Defence staff was commissioned in the Nigerian army as a 2nd Lieutenant on 14 December 1974. He was assistant Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Nigeria, Washington DC, United States for three years. Azazi  had one of the fastest growing military careers in the history of present day democratic Nigeria, between May, 2006 and June, 2007 the General had worn the ranks of Major General, Lieutenant General and General. On 20 August 2008 Umaru Yar'Adua replaced Azazi with Paul Dike as CDS and announced Azazi's retirement from military service. On 15 December 2012 Azazi died along with Governor Yakowa of Kaduna state in a naval helicopter crash in Okoroba Village of Bayelsa State while on their way back to the Port-Harcourt Airport from the funeral of Oronto Douglas's father.
General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin
General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin is the current Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff appointed to the position on July 13, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari. He enrolled at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria in 1973 and later joined the Nigerian Defence Academy as a member of the 25th Regular Combatant Course. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army Signal Corps in 1981.Gen. Olonisakin holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. Olonisakin was double promoted from a Major General to General in August 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari upon his confirmation as Chief of Defence Staff.