Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) 2023/2024 Admission Application Form.
Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) 71st regular course admission online application form will be available for sale as from Monday 22 October 2023 to Thursday 14 …
What is Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA)?
The Nigerian Defence Academy is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of training at the Nigerian Defence Academy is five years.
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 had only 62 cadets, and the trainers were mostly officers in the Indian Army. The Nigerian National Defence Academy (NDA) follows the pattern of similar NDA in Khadakwasla, Pune, India. The first commandant of NDA was Indian Army Brigadier M.R Verma. 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 “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 Ibrahim Manu Yusuf who was the former registrar of the academy. He took over from Maj Gen Sagir Yaro. Before his appointment, Yaro was the general managing director, Nigerian Army Welfare Limited by Guarantee (NAWLG).