Borno leaders reject merger of Army University with NDA

The Borno Concerned Citizens (BCC) has expressed its discontent with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly regarding the federal government’s intention to merge the Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB) with the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna. The Borno elders warned doing so would be counterproductive.

As a result, the BCC has written to President Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly via the federal government’s committee established to implement the Oronsaye Report. The committee was designed to oversee the merging of federal agencies.

The panel has begun its work, however the Borno Concern Citizens maintain that combining the civilian population of the Nigerian Army University Biu with the NDA would be counterproductive.

Dan Masanin Biu, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, signed the appeal letter on behalf of the Borno State Concerned Citizens. The elders stated that they were bringing up the subject now in order to avoid complicating the entire procedure.

The letter urged the Committee to examine the proposed merger of the Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army University Biu, allowing each to play a distinct role in the national interest.

The NDA was formed on January 5, 1964, by merging the Royal Military Forces Training College (RMFTC), the Army’s training institution, and the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC), which trained officers for the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force.

NAUB, on the other hand, was founded in 2018 with a specific mandate to serve as a hub for innovation and technological development for the Nigerian defence sector and the country, in order to meet the rapid development in the dynamics of modern warfare and other ancillary matters that occurred years after the Oronsaye report.

Part of the Borno elders letter read: “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 its meeting of 11th April 2018.

“The development 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 note that the vision of the University as conceptualised 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.”