The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) has opposed a proposed amendment to its enabling Act seeking to grant automatic admission to graduates of military secondary schools, warning that such a provision could undermine Nigeria’s federal character principle and unfairly exclude other qualified candidates from accessing military education opportunities.
The academy made its position known on Tuesday during a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Defence to consider amendments to defence-related laws currently before the National Assembly.
Presenting the NDA’s submission, the Director of Military Training, Brigadier General Taiye Ahmed, argued that the proposed amendment, if passed in its current form, would create constitutional and legal concerns capable of disrupting the institution’s established admission process.
According to him, the bill seeks to amend Section 8(2) of the Second Schedule to the NDA Act by introducing an arrangement that guarantees automatic admission for successful graduates of recognised military secondary schools into the academy.
Ahmed explained that advocates of the amendment had justified the proposal on the grounds that graduates of military schools possess prior military orientation and should be shielded from potential recruitment by criminal groups and violent non-state actors.
“The justification advanced by the proponents is to prevent the graduates of the schools from being handy tools in the hands of non-state violent actors because of the graduate military background,” he told lawmakers.
The proposed legislation would extend the privilege to graduates of institutions such as the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, the Air Force Military School, the Air Force Girls Military School, and the Nigerian Navy Military School.
However, the NDA maintained that the proposal conflicts with the constitutional principle of federal character, which guides admission into the academy to ensure national inclusiveness and equitable representation of all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“It was observed that if the amendment is passed as phrased, it has the potential of creating statutory bottlenecks on the constitutional principle of federal character. The NDA operates on this principle to ensure national unity and equal representation across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory,” Ahmed stated.
He further cautioned that reserving admission opportunities for a particular category of candidates could trigger legal disputes from other Nigerians who satisfy the admission requirements but did not attend military secondary schools.
“Moreover, the proposed amendment could face legal challenges for being discriminatory against applicants who did not attend the military school, as it could be perceived as disenfranchising them for admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy,” he added.
Defending the existing admission system, Ahmed noted that graduates of military schools already compete alongside civilian candidates under a merit-based process that enables the institution to identify and admit the most qualified applicants.
“The graduates of military schools currently have equal opportunity to seek admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy by competing with other interested Nigerians. The process has consistently ensured that the NDA selects the best candidates irrespective of the secondary school they attended,” he said.
He also highlighted alternative pathways available to military school graduates, including enlistment into the armed forces as soldiers and subsequent progression through short service commission, direct short service commission, or executive commission routes.
The military officer emphasised that admission into the NDA remains one of the most competitive in the country, involving stringent academic, physical, medical, and psychological assessments, in addition to meeting prescribed JAMB requirements.
“It is pertinent to state that the NDA has a very strict admission criteria, including minimum JAMB score as well as very high standard physical, psychological and medical standards,” Ahmed explained.
According to him, records from previous admission exercises indicate that civilian candidates sometimes outperform military school graduates, underscoring the importance of preserving a competitive selection process.
“Available records in the Armed Forces show that civilian candidates could be better than some military school graduates based on the earlier mentioned criteria to avoid disenfranchising excellent candidates that did not have the opportunity of attending military schools from admission into NDA,” he noted.
Consequently, the academy urged lawmakers to retain the current admission framework, insisting that it provides equal opportunity while safeguarding merit, fairness, and national cohesion.
“The NDA is of the opinion that the current admission process into the NDA should be maintained,” Ahmed concluded.
The hearing also considered other defence-sector reform proposals, including bills seeking the establishment of a Joint Doctrine and Warfare Centre, the creation of an Armed Forces Medical College in Abuja, and the upgrade of the National Defence College into a postgraduate degree-awarding institution and centre for strategic research.
Speaking at the end of the session, Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, commended stakeholders for their contributions and assured that all submissions would receive due consideration before legislative decisions are taken.
“This is the people’s parliament. The contributions have been worthwhile,” Benson said.
The debate over the proposed amendment highlights the delicate balance between expanding opportunities for military school graduates and preserving the principles of equity, merit, and national representation that underpin Nigeria’s admission policies.
