The Nigerian Army has confirmed Sani Kukasheka Usman as substantive Director of the Nigerian Army Directorate of Public Relations.
The confirmation of Usman, a brigadier-general, was announced via the WhatsApp handle operated by the directorate. Appointed acting spokesperson on January 30, 2015, the senior officer functioned in that capacity for about two years. At the time of his appointment, he was a colonel. He was promoted brigadier-general on December 9, 2016.
It remains unclear whether his confirmation was a result of his new rank. But Colonels have held that position on substantive basis in the past.
Sani succeeded then Brigadier-General Olajide Laleye, who was redeployed Brigade Commander of 4th Army Brigade, Benin, Edo State.
Before his appointment as acting director, Sani was deputy director, Army Public Relations, based at the Army’s 7th Division in Maiduguri, Borno State, the epicentre of the deadly Boko Haram insurgency.
The officer was commissioned as Lieutenant into the Directorate of Army Public Relations (DAPR) in 1992, and has remained in the unit ever since.
According to information on his Facebook Page, Usman attended Government Secondary School, Kafanchan between 1977 and 1982. He studied for a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication at Bayero University, Kano, between 1987 and 1991.
Between 2010 and 2011, the officer was at the University of Peace, Costa Rica, for a masters degree in Media, Peace and Conflict Studies.
