President Bola Tinubu at the weekend charged the armed forces to evolve new ideas and strategies to end insecurity in the country and protect Nigeria’s territorial integrity against all threats.
Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to Tinubu on media and publicity, in a statement, said the president reminded the security agencies of the urgency to scale up efforts to address the security situation in the country. He, nevertheless commended them for their dedication to duty and sacrifices for the nation.
Speaking at an event marking the Diamond Jubilee of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, on Saturday, the president assured the military of his administration’s commitment to their welfare, as well as unflagging support in the discharge of its duties.
Tinubu, while noting the strategic position occupied by the NDA, charged the academic staff both military and non-military “to transform the NDA into ‘Nigeria’s Silicon Valley,’ a hub for startups where ideas are not only incubated but also actualised,”
“Let me reiterate the urgency to upscale the fight against insecurity, which has robbed us of peace and progress. While the relative peace you have been able to secure is worth celebrating, you must remember that the war is not yet over until every parcel of land held by the enemy is flying the flag of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the president said.
The NDA was established about six decades ago, on February 5, 1964. The institution has undergone various stages of transformation in its quest to fulfill its mandate of training officers for the Nigerian Armed Forces. Before obtaining independence from Britain, Nigeria’s first set of officers were trained in Ghana and subsequently at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England. But by January 1964, four years after independence, the first batch of 64 army and navy cadets commenced training at the NDA.
