A group, Borno Concern Citizens, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly not to merge the Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB) with the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna.
They said the planned merger of the two schools at the instance of the Oronsaye Report, would be counterproductive.
The appeal was contained in a letter addressed through the committee set up by the federal government to implement the Oronsaye report that will lead to the merger of some agencies.
The Borno Concern Citizens insisted that mixing up the civilian population from the Nigerian Army University Biu with the NDA will be counterproductive.
The appeal letter which was signed by Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim (Dan Masanin Biu) for the Borno State Concerned Citizens, said they are bringing up the issue now in order not to obfuscate the whole process.
The letter which only had one prayer, appealed to the Committee on the implementation of Oronsaye Report and White Papers on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commission, to reconsider the proposed merger of the Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army University Biu and allow each to play its distinctive role in the overall interest of the nation.
LEADERSHIP reports that while NDA was established on 5th January, 1964, through the merging of the Royal Military Forces Training College (RMFTC), which is the training Institution for the Army; and the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC), which was responsible for training officers for the Nigerian Army, Navy and the Air Force; NAUB was established in 2018, with a special mandate as a hub for innovation and technological development for the Nigerian Defence sector and the nation, in order to meet the rapid development in the dynamics of modern warfare and other ancillary matters; which came years after the Oronsaye report.
“Further aware that in establishing NAUB, due process and rule of law were strictly adhered to and approvals were sought from the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at it’s meeting of 11th April 2018 which later culminated in an Act of National Assembly accented to by the President on the 1 April, 2021. Subsequently the Act was published on 7th April, 2021 in a gazette No.110 Vol.108 Nigerian Army University, Biu (Establishment) Act 2020.
“Also notes that the vision of the University as conceptualized is to become a solutions centre in technology, research and development for the promotion of self-reliance, creativity and innovation in addressing the educational challenges of the Nigeria Army, Military as well as the nation. This vision was derived from the experiences of similar Universities all over the world such as the National Defense University of Technology in China, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh just to mention a few.
“Also, aware that the University is an assemblage, which comprises 75% civilian and 25% Military population, with a mixed staff strength, made up of both military and civilian intellectuals. Its programmes are carefully crafted and structured to strengthen the Nigerian Army and the nation, through sound and innovative application and deployment of science and technology,” the group said.
The Borno State Concerned Citizens said they are worried that the merging of these two distinct institutions will not augur well for the sacred nature of military training and defence system.
“The Nigerian Defence Academy is a specialised Institution, strategically positioned to train officers for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force,” it said.
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