Principal Staff and other Directors
Principal Staff Officer, Coordination (PSO COORD) – Brig Gen Alani Gafar Okunlola
Brigadier General Alani Gafar Okunlola was born on 24 October 1961 at Olorunleke, Ado-Odo, in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. He attended Baptist Primary School, Olorunleke and Alamuwa Grammar School Ado-Odo where he was a member of the 3rd set from 1974 – 1979. He later secured admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in July 1983 and he was commissioned Second Lieutenant on 28 June 1986 into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps.
Gafar has held several appointments in the course of his career. The salient ones include GSO1 Ops at the AHQ DAOPs, member of Directing Staff at the prestigious Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji. He also served as SO1 PS at the HQ 2 Division Nigerian Army, (August 2005 – January 2007) and DD EX at the AHQ DATOPs (January 2007 – August 2008) he was later posted to the AFCSC Jaji where he served as Chief Instructor (CI) Strategic Studies Division (SSD) from September 2008 – September 2009 until his nomination as participant on the NDC Course 18. On graduation from the NDC, in August 2010, he was posted to HQ ICC and appointed ACOS G3. He was later appointed COS HQ JTF OP RESTORE HOPE/PULO SHIELD. He resumed at the NDC as a member of Faculty (DS) on 23 February 2012. He was appointed Principal Staff Officer Coordination (PSO Coord) on 20 May 2013, an appointment he holds till date.
Brig Gen Okunlola has attended many course and workshops relevant to his career. Some of the courses are the Junior Staff Course (JD) at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji (1995). He later attended the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFSC), Teshie – Accra, Ghana for his Senior Command and Staff Course from 2000 – 2001. While at the GAFCSC, he attended the joint Operations Planning Course which was a package conducted by the British Military Assistance Training Team (BMATT). For his strategic level training, he attended the National defence College (Abuja) from September 2009 – August 2010 and on graduation, he earned the prestigious Fellow of the Defence College (fcd). He has also participated in many Seminars. His latest training/educational pursuit was his attendance of the Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors’ Course (GFOAC) at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence College in Rome, Italy from 11 – 15 November and at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium from 18 – 21 November 2013.
Okunlola has in his kitty the ECOMOG Medal, Forces Service Star (FSS), and Meritorious Service Star (MSS) and Distinguished Service Star (DSS). His military qualifications and awards also include the pjsc and psc. He is a holder of the prestigious psc(+) of the AFCSC, Jaji. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Defence College (fdc+) and he bagged the MSc (Strategic Studies) Degree of the University of Ibadan in 2011. Alani is happily married with children. He enjoys reading, jogging and long distance driving.
