Timothy Mai Shelpidi (4 September 1948 – 2 March 2018) was a Nigerian general and diplomat, who served as the ambassador of Nigeria to the Russian Federation from 2008 to 2011. A retired major general, he served as commander of the ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force in Liberia from 1998 to 1999, and was commander of the ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force in Guinea Bissau in 1997. Born on 4 September 1948, He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1967, he started his training at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and was commissioned a Regular Combatant Officer on 4 March 1970. Between 1990 and 1992, he was principal staff officer to Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. After retirement, he went briefly into politics, contesting for the governorship of his home state of Gombe in 2003. He died on 2 March 2018, at the Federal Medical Center, Abuja, after a protracted illness, and was buried on 13 March 2018, in his home town of Boh, in Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe State.

Qualifications and decorations

Shelpidi has attended various military courses in Nigeria and overseas. 1973 he was Commanding Officer of the 124 Infantry Battalion. In 1996 he was MAJOR GENERAL (mss, psc, ndc), Chief of Research and Development In 1997, he was Commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group in Guinea Bissau. From 18 September 2008 to 14 October 2011 he administrated the Embassy of Nigeria in Moscow.