Kagame to Deliver Defence College Graduation Lecture August 5
*College graduates 2,549 participants in 30 years
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda will deliver the 30th anniversary and graduation lecture of the Course 30 of the National Defence College (NDC) on August 5 in Abuja.
The graduation lecture is coming as the college said that the institution graduated 2,549 participants in 30 years.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Commandant of the college, Rear Admiral Murtala Bashir, said President Kagame is expected to deliver the lecture in Abuja on August 5.
He said the college graduated 2,589 participants and senior officers from Nigeria and other African countries including Uganda, Burkinafaso, Liberia among other countries in 30 years of its existence.
Bashir, who was represented by the Deputy Commandant of the institution, Maj Gen Emeka Onumajuru, said the defence college would mark its 30th anniversary and graduation of Course 30 of the college within the period.
He said the NDC in its 30 years of existence had trained top level officials of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as the police and other security agencies to be able to operate at the highest strategic level.
Reeling out the achievement of the institution since its inception, he stated that of the 2,549 participants the institution graduated since its inception in 1992, 216 were drawn from MDAs, 254 were international participants from various countries of the world while 92 others were senior officers of the Nigeria Police.
“We insist that our participants understand how to use the entire elements of national power to achieve strategic objectives within Nigeria and abroad”, he said.
He noted that among participants trained by the institution were those who had reached the pinnacle of their career in the armed forces and the MDAs.
He said the college as a center of excellence had advanced defence diplomacy in the armed forces.
He said the college remained a key arm of the national defence policy because of the level of interaction between the institution and members of the armed forces from other countries
“So we pride ourselves as advancing our defence diplomacy and ultimately the national foreign policy of the country”, he said.
The college boss noted that two military service chiefs from Burkina Faso and Uganda underwent training at the college and would be honoured during the week-long celebration.
NDC was founded to provide the highest level of strategic training designed to advanced military professionalism and involvement in the decision-making process under democratic political culture and structures.
