The Nigeria Military has revealed plans to start a Nigeria Army University which is expected to commence academic activities before the end of 2018.
This was announced by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, who said that the Army University is expected to commence academic activities before the end of the year.
The Army Chief revealed the Military’s educational ambition to reporters in Abuja on Thursday. He revealed further that the Nigeria Army University would run courses in the sciences and humanities and admission would be in the ratio of 30 per cent military and 70 per cent civilian, with a civilian vice-chancellor.
He also said the Military hierarchy was in discussions with the National Universities Commission, Federal Ministry of Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) as well as the Education Trust Fund to make the idea a reality.
According to Buratai;
“The Army University is taking shape. Before the end of the year, the university will take off; courses have been identified in the sciences and humanities and we are waiting for the necessary guidelines to be released.
The university will be civilian-driven in terms of admission and we expect Education Trust Fund to provide the necessary funding while the army makes available the needed support.’’
The Nigeria Army Chief also used the opportunity to address the shooting incident at Maiduguri Airport by protesting soldiers of the Nigeria Army.
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He described the incident as disappointing for a disciplined institution like the Nigeria Army for its troops to behave in such a manner while he confirmed that the mutinous soldiers would be dealt with in accordance with military laws.
“Troops had been moved around from different locations such as Bama; why should their own be different? This behaviour will not be tolerated,’’ he said.
The protesting troops had been redeployed to Marte, following Mr. Buratai’s directive, in a bid to strengthen security in the city.
According to the Nigeria Army, the redeployment became necessary after an assessment of the security situation by the Theatre Command.
The Theatre command revealed that the process was grossly misconstrued by the soldiers who became agitated and reacted by firing into the air.
Buratai also told news men that several Boko Haram informants within the Nigeria Army had been caught and subsequently court-martialled.
Speaking further on the issue, Buratai said;
“We are not resting on our oars; there are bad eggs in the army just like elsewhere. But we believe that everyone in the army should uphold the ethics and if soldiers decide to go against it, we will deal with them in accordance with military laws.”
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