It is no longer news that history was made recently when Major General Taritimiye Gagariga decorated his younger brother Tariweriye Gagariga, as a Major General – the first time this would happen in the Nigerian Army.

However, unknown to the public, the two warriors from Odi community in Bayelsa State had to escape death in Boko Haram attacks to be alive to make history.

One of their cousins, Captain Tarilatuo Gagariga, disclosed this in an interview with Saturday Telegraph, in which he also disclosed that the older of the two (Timi ) has been a Major General since 2018 before he decorated his younger brother (Tari) with the Major General rank on December 30, 2021.

Asked if they entertain fears of the brothers being killed on the battle field Captain Tarilatuo Gagariga, a retired pilot, said: “We were all afraid because the first one was shot by Boko Haram on his leg when he was a Brigadier General; even the second one lost troops through bomb explosion but we had confidence that our children will never get lost outside.”

Commenting on the feat of the two brothers, Captain Gagariga said: “I feel very excited and so happy. I feel very great and excited but not surprised.

“The Gagarigas are known for excellence in their chosen careers. As an airline pilot, I was excellent and so were our parents. It is in the genes.”

Continuing, he said: “The two Generals are actually my first cousins. My father is the elder brother to their own father. Their father was a Navy Commander. You can imagine the children of a naval officer, there will be that discipline.

“They are well disciplined. The elder has been promoted since 2018. This other one was recently promoted and he (older brother) now decorated him.

“We grew up with them in Lagos. The elder one told me that he chose to join the military when he saw one of our cousins, a military officer, a Lieutenant Colonel in the army then. He said that the cousin would come to their father’s house, in his uniform, with so much confidence.

“Of course, when they were growing up, they were scared of their father but this cousin will come with so much confidence. And so ‘he said I’m going to join the army.’

“They were disciplined children and their mother was well-to-do. We all grew up in a well-to-do environment. We all had a very decent upbringing.”

Asked how the Generals are impacting Odi, the retired pilot disclosed: “They are already impacting Odi community because the elder brother is the one renovating the hospital for us. They are just in their fifties.”

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