Kaduna State Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, on Thursday, attended the 36th Convocation Ceremony of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), charging graduating cadets to deploy their military and academic training towards strengthening Nigeria’s security and national development.
The ceremony, held at the Ribadu Auditorium of the Academy in Afaka, Kaduna State, witnessed the graduation of 444 cadets of the 73 Regular Course, comprising 193 Army, 116 Navy and 145 Air Force cadets.
A total of 2,700 postgraduate students also received Postgraduate Diplomas, Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
Balarabe, who delivered the Vice President’s address, conveyed the felicitations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s pride in the NDA’s contribution to producing professionally trained military officers capable of responding to complex contemporary security challenges.
She said the Academy had become an important component of Nigeria’s national security architecture, particularly through its integration of military training with higher education, research and technological innovation.
According to her, the transformation of the NDA into a degree-awarding institution in 1985 has continued to demonstrate the value of combining rigorous academic education with military training.
She noted that the Academy’s expanding faculties, postgraduate programmes and research activities had enhanced its capacity to prepare officers for the increasingly technological nature of modern warfare.
Balarabe particularly highlighted research initiatives by NDA scholars, including precision-guided munitions, remotely operated weapon systems and a multi-purpose guided global mobile robot, describing such innovations as important complements to the Federal Government’s broader efforts to address insecurity.
She said the administration was pursuing a “whole-of-society” approach to security, arguing that sustainable national stability also depended on addressing poverty, unemployment, education deficits and other conditions that undermine security and governance.
The Vice President’s representative also linked the Federal Government’s education reforms, including the student loan scheme and reforms in basic education, to its broader strategy for national development and security.
Addressing the graduating cadets, Balarabe urged them to remain disciplined, critical-thinking, adaptable and forward-looking, stressing that their military and academic training placed greater responsibilities on them as they entered professional life.
She charged them to apply the knowledge acquired at the Academy to develop innovative solutions to Nigeria’s security, technological and developmental challenges, while remaining loyal to the Constitution and laws of the country.
The Vice President also commended the NDA Commandant, military and civilian personnel, academics, researchers, parents and families for their contributions to the success of the graduates.
The ceremony also featured the conferment of honorary NDA Honoris Causa degrees on industrialists Engineer Adetokunbo Ogundeyin and Alhaji Auwalu Abdullahi Rano.
A major highlight was the presentation of academic prizes, with Cadet S.O. Adewunmi emerging as overall best graduating cadet in academics with a 4.97 CGPA and winning six academic prizes.
