History OF NIGERIAN DEFENCE ACADEMY (NDA)

The NDA was established in February 1964 as a reformation of the British run Royal Military Forces Training College (RMFTC), which had been renamed the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) on independence. The military institution trains the officer corps of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force. The initial class was only 62 cadets, and trainers were mostly officers in the Indian Army. The NDA grew to an all Nigerian training staff only in 1978. In 1981 itself began bilateral training of foreign militaries. In 1985 the academy commenced offering undergraduate programmes to Military Officers In Training and now also currently offers post graduate studies both for Msc and Ph.D for both military and civilian students alike. The central mission remains the training of young officer cadets in the 5 year(4years Navy and Air force) “Regular Combatant Course” in which cadets are groomed in Military, Academic and Character development to instill discipline and leadership skills according to global best practices, culminating in the award of a bachelor’s degree and presidential commissioning into the rank of second lieutenant for Army cadets or equivalent in the Navy and Air Force for respective cadets. Until 2011 this course used to be exclusively for males, the first set of female cadets commenced training in September 2011. As of 2019, its total cadet class is around 2500.

The current Commandant is Major General Sarham Jamilu.

NDA Commandants

Below is the chronological list of NDA Commandants:

Brigadier M.R. Varma 1964–1969 (Indian national and 1st Commandant of the NDA)Major General David Ejoor 1969–1971 (1st Nigerian Commandant)Major General Adeyinka Adebayo 1971Major General E.O. Ekpo March 1971 – February 1975Brigadier Illiya Bisalla February 1975 – August 1975Brigadier Gibson Jalo August 1975 – January 1978Brigadier E.S. Armah January 1978 – July 1978Brigadier Joseph Garba July 1978 – July 1979Brigadier Zamani Lekwot July 1979 – 1982Brigadier Abdullahi Shelleng 1982–Major General Paul Tarfa 1984–1985Major General Peter Adomokai 1986 – 1988Lieutenant General Salihu Ibrahim 1988–1990Lieutenant General Garba Duba 1990–1992Lieutenant General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau 1992–1993Lieutenant General Mohammed Balarabe Haladu 1993 – 1994Air Marshal Al-Amin Daggash 1994 – 1998Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi 1998–1999Major General PG Sha 2000-2002Major General Okon Edet Okon (2002-2003)Major General Akpa (2004-2006)Major General Harris Dzarma (2006–2008)Major General Mamuda Yerima (2008–2010)Major General Emeka Onwuamaegbu 2010–2013Major General Muhammad Inuwa Idris December 2013 – August 2015Major General M.T. Ibrahim August 2015 – October 2017Major General A. Oyebade October 2017 – November 2019Major General Sarham Jamilu November 2019 – till date

Alumni

Some notable alumni:

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