Oronsaye Report: Borno citizens kick against merging Nigerian Army University with NDA

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

A group, Borno State Concerned Citizens has kicked against the merging of Nigerian Army University, Biu (NAUB) with Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) as recommended by Oronsaye Report, saying merging the two institutions will be counterproductive.
In a letter dated March 25, 2024, to the chairman of, the Implementation Committee on Oronsaye Report, the leader of Borno State Concerned Citizens, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim (Dan Masanin Biu) said the people are worried that, “the merging of these two distinct Institutions will not augur well for the sacred nature of our military training and defence system. The Nigerian Defence Academy is a specialised Institution, strategically positioned to train officers for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force”.
Recalled that on Friday, 8th March 2024, the Committee on the implementation of the recommendations of the Oronsaye Report and White Papers on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals,Agencies and Commissions was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, on behalf of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Terms of Reference of the Implementation Committee is to carry out extensive merger, relocation, subsuming and or scrapping of some parastatals, agencies and commissions, to reduce the cost of governance and engendering efficiency in the system.
However, while commending the Federal Government for the bold step and initiative, Borno citizens warned that the proposed mergers may jeopardise the statutory mandates of some specialised institutions, especially the Nigerian Defence Academy.
“Therefore, mixing them up with civilians from the Nigerian Army University Biu will be counterproductive.
“We are also worried that the merger of these two Institutions was not part of the initial Oronsaye Report of 2012 as well as the reviewed one. Therefore, it will be out of place to include them in the lists of institutions to be streamlined or merged as proposed.
“We observed that many bills for the establishment of Universities and Institutions of higher learning were passed by the National Assembly and signed into law after the establishment of NAUB.
“We also observed that the National Assembly has passed and will continue to pass bills for the establishment of tertiary institutions in the country as it becomes necessary. More licenses for the establishment of private universities have also been granted by NUC because of an inadequate number of tertiary institutions in the country.
“We humbly appeal to the Committee on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report and White Papers on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal
Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commission to reconsider the proposed merger of the Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army University, Biu and allow each to play its distinctive role in the overall interest of the nation”.
The letter by Borno Citizens which was copied by the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Right Hon. Speaker, House of Representatives, National Assembly stated, “We also note that the Nigerian Defence Academy was established on 5th January 1964, through the merging of the Royal Military Forces Training College (RMFTC, which is the training Institution for the Army; and the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC), which was responsible for training officers for the Nigerian Navy and Air Force.