Secretary-General Appoints Major General Salihu Zaway Uba of Nigeria as Force Commander for United Nations Mission in Liberia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Major General Salihu Zaway Uba of Nigeria as the Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

Major General Uba will succeed Major General Leonard Muriuki Ngondi of Kenya, who will complete his tour of duty on 25 February 2015.  The Secretary-General is grateful for Major General Ngondi’s dedicated and exemplary service during his tenure with UNMIL.

Major General Uba brings to this position 32 years of national and international military experience.  Before his appointment, he served as the Commander of Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army and the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Center from 2013 to 2014.  Between 2012 and 2013, he served as the Director of Veterans Affairs Department in the Nigerian Ministry of Defence.

Major General Uba also served as Sector Commander in the United Nations Mission in Liberia from 2010 to 2012, and as Company Commander in the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) from 1992 to 1993.

Major General Uba has master’s degrees in strategic studies, business administration, and peace and conflict from the University of Ibadan, Imo State University, and the National Open University, respectively, Nigeria.  He is also a graduate of the War College, Nigeria.

Born in 1959, he is married and has three children.