NDA Admission: No Big Man Can Help You – Commandant

BY AMOS TAUNA, KADUNA – The Commandant Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Major General Mohammed T. Ibrahim, on Tuesday told prospective candidates to the elite military school to forget lobbying for admission, as they do not need to know any big man to get admission into NDA.

He said that all a candidate needs was sound education, courage and physical fitness, not a note from any so-called influential person.

Ibrahim stated this at Mahuta, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis, while flagging off planting of economic trees donated to the community by the Academy.

The Commandant, who equally donated the sum of N500,000 for the renovation of the Community’s primary, was reacting to the community leadership’s request for assistance in securing admissions for their youths into the NDA.

“You don’t need to know any big man to join the military. Once you study hard, you are courageous and determined, just apply and once you pass the examination, you will be admitted into the NDA.

“NDA is a specialised institution where you don’t pay tuition fee or anything. In fact, we pay you while we are training you. It would interest you to know that cadets even train their siblings from the allowances we give them in the academy,” he said.

Speaking on the NDA’s outreach to the community, Major General Ibrahim said the cash donation and the economic trees were parts of the Academy’s civil-military relations efforts.

He said the military was not competing with the government, but it has resolved to assist the government in the development of its host communities.

Ibrahim, therefore, urged the community to follow up the exercise by planting more trees, just as he called on them to remain united for the community’s peace and progress.

Earlier, the village head of Mahuta, Alhaji Mohammed Khamis Mohammed, commended the Commandant for the gesture and promised to reciprocate by living peacefully with their neighbouring communities