Re: FG proposes Defence University
But I want to caution the Federal Government in this attempt because we, both as government and people of Nigeria, always fancy creating new institutions sometimes amounting to needless duplication or even at the detriment of the existing ones. That is my sole fear about this proposal. I personally feel that establishing another Defence University […]
But I want to caution the Federal Government in this attempt because we, both as government and people of Nigeria, always fancy creating new institutions sometimes amounting to needless duplication or even at the detriment of the existing ones. That is my sole fear about this proposal. I personally feel that establishing another Defence University would only end up spreading our defence resources too thinly.
As we speak now, the Nigerian Defence Academy has been a degree awarding institution since 1985. The institution has until recently even been offering higher degrees in many academic and professional areas to officers of the armed forces and interested civilians alike. But with the recent Post Graduate Programmes’ advertisement published in the Daily Trust Newspaper of March 23rd, 2011 page 38, I personally observed the reduced number of post graduate courses offered by the premier military university – the NDA, as against the many programmes it was hitherto offering at that level.
The reason for such reduction in the number of advertised post graduate programmes might not be unconnected to the challenges of funding and maintaining the accreditation status of most of the programmes. With the current status of NDA, I dare say that there is nothing the Federal Government would fail to achieve from it to the extent of warranting a new Defence University. While acknowledging the multi-tier and multi-disciplinary nature of military training and professionalism, it is very important to note that our armed forces are already having many institutions such as the Command and Staff College Jaji, National Defence College Abuja, placements in the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru-Jos etc to cater for their training and professional needs. This list does not include the many other institutions for the three arms of the military that are offering National and Higher National Diplomas in various academic and professional areas in the country.
I think what is most desirable is not another Defence University that might end up being underfunded in the future or replicating an existing one. What is needed is increased funding and massive expansion of the existing one, in this case NDA. We are aware of the long years it took even the NDA to move to its permanent site due to a combination of factors which kept me wondering why any government would now think of establishing another Defence University at this time in Nigeria. It is my considered opinion that we have not yet exhausted NDA’s full potentials to warrant creating a new Defence University, please.
Abdulrahman Mohammed Alfa 6, Mukum Close, Badarawa,Kaduna