UNILORIN, Nigerian Army synergize on training of officers

By Arowona Abdulazeez

AUTHORITY of the Nigerian Army has sealed a partnership agreement with the University of Ilorin on the training of senior military personnel in Peace and Security/Strategic Studies at Masters Degree level.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in Ilorin between the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, and the representative of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

ROYAL NEWS reports that With the partnership agreement, senior officers of the Nigerian Army will be able to undertake academic training at the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS) of the University of Ilorin.

Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, the Chief of Army Staff, represented by the Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC), Brig. Gen. L. F. Abdullahi, said that the aim of the partnership is to promote intellectual development among the military personnel in the country.

The Army Chief pointed out that the Army recognised the worth of the University of Ilorin, adding that the effort the two institutions have put into the training of military personnel was already bearing fruit and that it would bear much more fruit.

According to Lt Gen. Buratai, the Army is hoping that graduates of the Higher Executive Management course and those who have obtained their Master’s degree from the University of Ibadan would be able to pursue their PhD programme at the University of Ilorin.

He pleaded with the Senate of the University to expedite action on the approval of the programme while expressing his gratitude for the collaboration and seeking greater collaboration in the nearest future.

The Chief of Army Staff, who hinted that the Nigerian Army University would commence soon, stressed that the Army University would require academics from institutions such as the University of Ilorin to drive her programmes.

He thanked the Unilorin management and especially the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies for the support the Army had enjoyed from a previous collaboration with the University, as he described the Director of CPSS Dr. M. A. Adedimeji, as a man of proven integrity who has represented the University well.

In his remarks before signing the MoU, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ambali, noted that education is power and that it gives the military an edge in the discharge of its constitutional duties.

Prof. Ambali, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Technology and Innovation), Prof. Gabriel Olatunji, commended the Nigerian Army for its interest in academics, expressing the hope that the partnership with the Army would be to the greater benefits of the nation.

He disclosed that the University would soon establish a military branch of the University’s Alumni Association.

The Vice-Chancellor informed the Army Chief that the CPSS is capable of facilitating the partnership with the Army, assuring him that the Senate of the University of Ilorin would soon approve the proposed award of degree by the Nigerian Army School of Education (NASE), Sobi, Ilorin.

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He equally promised that the University would ensure the programme is expanded and extended as the occasion demands.