A Nigerian named Akinola Oladipo has retired from the United States (US) Army after 24 years of active service.
The soldier who retired as an Infantry Senior Sergeant in a LinkedIn post chronicled his journey from Nigeria to the United States when he first arrived in America as a young man on July 7, 1997.
Upon arrival in the States, Oladipo “worked briefly with FEDEX and almost immediately joined the best Army in the world.”
According to him, the plan was “to do 4 years, earn money for College, then go back and finished his education.”
However, after 4 years, he decided to extend his service in the US Army for another 20 years.
While in active service, Oladipo underwent six tours. They listed them as Bosnia (1), Kuwait (1), Iraq (3), and Afghanistan (1).
The veteran expressed gratitude to his “wonderful wife and children” as well as his siblings, superiors, colleagues, and subordinates for their support throughout his stay with the US Army.
Oladipo also admitted errors made while in service.
According to him, “I made so many mistakes, I was relieved, I became a candidate for Quality Management Program (QMP) which I survived and thankfully, my mistakes did not define me.”
Oladipo has an illustrious career
Referring to himself as ‘Tiger 7’, Oladipo during his illustrious career acquired five Masters.
They include; Master Sergeant, Master Gunner, Master Driver, Master Resiliency Trainer, and a Masters’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Columbus State University.
He also was “the 1st Calvary Division NCO of the Year Fiscal Year 2004, made the Commandant list in 2 of my 3 NCOES Schools, received the Governor Citation in Korea for promoting Unity and partnership, and a host of individual awards and decorations”.
Oladipo noted that he “never lost not one of my Soldiers” throughout the many hurdles they were faced with.
He explained that his soldiers didn’t always like him or his methods but were usually appreciative when they all “marched into the various gyms after all combat tours.”
The retired Senior Sergeant revealed that his “best band of brothers are 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 3-4 Infantry.
In another news, a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, Kingsley Ezeani, has again done the country proud by graduating from Harvard University with a master’s degree in Public Administration.
The young tech enthusiast who got accepted to Harvard on a full scholarship shared the news on his LinkedIn page.
Passionately stating what it means to him, he said, “I graduated from Harvard against all odds! I was the first in my family to study outside Nigeria and I got accepted to Harvard on a full scholarship!”
