The Olu -Adde and paramount ruler of Ekinrin-Adde Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Olu Anthony Bamigbaiye Idowu, has approved the conferment of Grand-Star Award 2024 on former Chief of Defence Intelligence, General Samuel Adebayo CFR (Rtd).
This was made known through the National Publicity Secretary of the Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association, Mr. Adewale Victor Adekanye in a statement obtained by The Drum Reporter on Thursday.
The Grand-Star Award, according to Adekanye is the highest award to be conferred on an individual by the leadership of Ekinrin-Adde Community Development Association.
The prestigious award will be conferred on 21st of June, 2024 at the Ekinrin Adde Award night which is part of activities marking this year’s Ekinrin Adde Day.
Major General Samuel Abiodun Adebayo CFR was born on 23 March 1967 in Jos, Plateau State but hails from Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
He attended St John’s College in Jos (a member of 84 set) thereafter proceeded to Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). He did not stop there as he also attended Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) in Kaduna State as well as the Nigerian Army Intelligence School (NAIS), Lagos.
The security expert holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Chemistry from the Nigerian Defence Academy, a Diploma in Security and Safety Management from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, a Master’s degree in Defence Management from the School of National Defense, Buenos Aires, Argentina and an Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt).
He commenced cadet training at NDA in September 1985 and was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant in September 1990 as an Intelligence Officer.
Major General Adebayo CFR has held several command, staff and instructional appointments in the course of his military career.
He commanded with distinctions all through the chain of command in the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps. Prominent among these appointments are Deputy Defence Adviser, Nigerian Defence Section in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Commander 2 Division Intelligence Group, Commandant Nigerian Army Intelligence School and the Chief of Military Intelligence (Army).
During his tour of duty as Chief of Military Intelligence (Army), he conceived and contributed to several initiatives in support of National Security.
He was elevated from the office of the Chief of Military Intelligence (Army) to the office of the Chief of Defence Intelligence and in line with the core mandate of the Defence Intelligence Agency, he provided actionable intelligence, particularly of military nature in support of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
He also successfully directed the conduct of several vital covert and overt operations against different threat groups in the country.
Internationally, Major General Adebayo has enhanced collaborations with counterpart defence intelligence agencies for intelligence sharing and the global fight against terrorism.
Major General Adebayo CFR was exposed to leadership and professional development programs at globally renowned institutions. He participated in the seminar on Countering Violent Extremist Organizations in Africa at the George C. Marshall Centre for Security Studies in Germany. National and International Security Program at Harvard University, Boston, USA, as well as the Security Watch Africa at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Other engagements are the Munich Security Conference 2017 in Munich, Germany, and the Seminar on the application of GIS to Intelligence gathering, UK.
Major General Adebayo has several honours and awards to his credit.
He is a highly decorated Senior Officer with a General Operations Medal (GOM), Forces Service Star (FSS), Meritorious Service Star (MSS), Distinguish Service Star (DSS), Grand Service Star (GSS) and the Corps Medal of Honour (CMH). Others are Field Command Medal (FCM) and Training Support Medal (TSM).
He is a Fellow of the International Institute of Professional Security (FIIPS), an Honorary Fellow of the Emergency, Crisis, Disaster, Safety, Environmental and Risk Management Institute (FECRMI) as well as a bearer of the Defence and Security Achievers Award 2021.
The Former Chief of Defence Intelligence also holds the Royal Meritorious Service Award for Excellent Performance presented by the Royal Trust Media International.
In addition, Maj Gen Samuel Adebayo was conferred with the National Honours of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022/2023 respectively.
He enjoys reading, writing and listening to good music. He is happily married and blessed with children.
