It is such an honour and a rare privilege to serve as the 25th Commandant of this prestigious institution, my beloved alma mater. In its 47 years history, the focus of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) as the foremost officer cadet training institution in the country has remained to develop future leaders for the armed forces of Nigeria and friendly overseas countries.
Leaders with integrity, vision and competence. Leaders who
demonstrate through good personal example, discipline, strong work
ethic, initiative and proactivity the desired qualities of officership,
thus easily motivating the men they lead.
From the creeks of the Niger
Delta to the Savannah plains of Borno; the sandy desert of Darfur to the
cosmopolitan mix of Abidjan, and beyond the African continent, NDA
products have continued to distinguish themselves and positively project
the image of the academy, the armed forces and Nigeria as a whole.
This has been made possible by the solid foundation laid by the founding fathers of the Academy which those of us currently serving in the institution daily strive to build upon. The cornerstone of this foundation has remained good military and academic training and sound character development for the gentlemen cadets.
The period of cadetship training in the NDA provides the foundation for an officer’s career in the armed forces. In line with the role of the Academy, the focus is to develop in officer cadets qualities of leadership, character and intellect in order to better equip them for the challenges of the military profession.
A total of 57 regular courses have passed through
this great institution and 5 more sets are currently being groomed in
the factory. The 63rd Regular Course with the pioneer set of female
regular combatant cadets will arrive at the academy in October 2011 to
commence training.
Our expectations are high from these trail blazing young women who will have the rare opportunity of competing with their male counterparts to prove the saying the “what a man can do a woman can do even betterâ€.
As the 2011 wet academic semester gradually draws to a close, military training is set to gather intensity with initial camping for 62 Regular Course and final exercise for the 58 Regular Course who are the next set of leaders to be rolled off the factory come 24 September 2011.
In line with changing global security environment, NDA continues to re-evaluate it training curriculum teaching methods and instructional techniques to produce adaptive leaders who would be best equipped to deal with the multidimensional security challenges of today’s world.
This is done in tandem with infrastructural upgrade and staff motivation to achieve the desired result. Without doubt, the Academy is set for a glorious future even as its rich history continues to inspire us and future generation of military leaders.
Finally it is with all confidence and pride, that I
would say there is no better place to serve ones country than in the
armed forces; there is no better place to train than in the premier
military university in the West African sub region
Major General Emeka Onwumaegbu
– NDA.
Click here to watch and see series of videos on our events and other activites.
