We were the first set of the Nigerian Military School, Zaria – IBM Haruna

What is the history of the Nigerian Military School, as it is now sixty years of existence?In as far as the NMS is concerned, I am in the first set or pioneering set recruited in 1954 by then Colonel Wollington Omo–Obasi. And it has come a long way from Boys Company to NMS. It is […]

What is the history of the Nigerian Military School, as it is now sixty years of existence?
In as far as the NMS is concerned, I am in the first set or pioneering set recruited in 1954 by then Colonel Wollington Omo–Obasi. And it has come a long way from Boys Company to NMS. It is now a well-known established institution in Nigeria. NMS has trained a quiet number of army and those that did not join the regular course in modern education and a career.

Being the first set, can you remember how many were you and the famous ones.
The school began in may 1954. We were 30 boys. And I am aware of two of us who are living, there may be others. I am not aware of where they are. But I know that retired General Emmanuel Ikwue, one time Chief of Air staff and myself perhaps the two living survivors of the first 30 boys with whom the NMS was started.

Who is colonel Omo-Obasi?
He was the first Nigerian commissioned officer by the British and there is a barrack in Abuja named after him. He was the pioneering commandant and the first recognized Nigerian soldier by the British who after going through all the ranks he became an officer. Omo-Obasi joined the army and served the British in the first and second world wars and rose through the ranks. I was 14 years in 1954 and he was a Colonel then. Omo-Obasi and General JT Aguiyi-Ironsi were the pioneering officer corp. He was made to recruit children of soldiers who fought in the first and second world wars to train as soldiers and officers when the British were foreseeing independence then.
We had a four-year course and we were expected to be contracted to serve the army. After our graduation the argument to whether to train in the Nigerian army as you cannot enter contract at the age of 14 or whether we were compelled or compellable to join the Nigerian Army at that age came up and we further our studies and later became officers after the parents who were servicemen.

What were the essence of cantonment and later command schools within the barrack?
Well the policy that came to be that were large community of military adopted by government in subsequent years and for education to be liberal to the children and even enrol those of the civilian community within the barracks.

When was Nigerian Army Education Corp, NAEC started, was it meant to have prepared an elites corp as modernity was progressing?
It was part and parcel of the in-service training of soldiers, it was for the enlightening for the service corp like the infantry, armour and for the pay or admin corp – salary and administration – they are an integral part of the army, or the warfare industry.

Is the significance of the Short Service SS and the Direct Short Service DSS corp in the army for war or conventional situations?
The nature of service is a contract engagement. We have the combatant regular service commission who have a career and the SS or DSS officer has a contract to serve for a period of time or for the emerging other ranks or executive commission for a certain function like being a Quarter Master or personnel administrator. SS are renewable and are convertible to other forms of service.  But the Regular Army is the young officer who trained through the military academy NDA and has to pass through in-service courses like Captain to Major and so on to fulfill his career.  Having a PhD in academics is not about having an elite corp. The military has performed its function in different historical era.
Now its sophisticated scientific equipment are involved in national management, industrial management and it is necessary to have soldiers who are charged with highly expensive national asset to highly educated and the sophistication now requires to administer not only soldiers but communities, government and those who come under military administration.
They have to be educated to discharge their functions. Because warfare has changed it’s faces. There are now warfare that are conducted with seamless enemies with no identification, no boundaries or chain of command, or territory. So the essence of having the military with personnel who are highly educated is to march the nature and character of warfare is now common place.

NIPPS and War College should be a think tank, does that mean they have failed?
War College and Staff College have their own training functions. It is just as the civilians have secondary, polytechnic and university. In the career of a soldier, you have to pass these stages to go from Captain Major, Colonel, Brigadier General.
The military are functional and organization that comes under your purview you need training under the service that have functional capacity and now we are involved in internal crises.
As we now have joint tasks force. They are drawn from different backgrounds and training like the Army, Airforce, police and plain cloth intelligence and international inputs. All these have to join in the operation in order to achieve the objectives of the government. Which means as a military personnel you have to work functionally with all the agents of government and perform your own task as it is not only to deliver destructive force but is also to maintain good governance to ensure that justice and human right can be respected. It is not an outright all out war where you deliver an outright force and walk away.
 During the military training you go through all these phases like War College, policy and strategic studies where you make research and make recommendations for the wellbeing of the people on good governance.