Osun monarch and Olowu Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Makama, has advised President Bola Tinubu against merging the Nigerian Army University (NAU) with the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). This advice was contained in a statement issued by his media office and obtained by Prime 9ja Online on Wednesday.
Oba Makama's appeal comes in the wake of President Tinubu's decision to implement the Stephen Oronsaye report. According to the statement, “Nigerian Army University, Biu, unlike the Nigerian Defence Academy, is a full-fledged federal university like other federal universities in the country, offers various courses and is not specialised like NDA.”
The monarch, recalling that the Nigerian Army University was established by an Act of the National Assembly, added that it cannot be reversed without returning to the Assembly to repeal the Act that set it up. He stated, “Merging NAU with NDA means the Federal Government is ready to merge every federal university created by Act of the National Assembly.”
Oba Makama also reminded President Tinubu that the Nigerian Army University was set up to cater for the multitude of students in search of university education in the Northeast axis. He added that merging it with the NDA would reduce it to an institution where military personnel are trained.
However, he commended President Tinubu for the political will to implement a far-reaching civil service reform that was initiated twelve years ago to cut the over-bloated costs of governance. He concluded, “Finally I believe the mix up should not have arisen if proper wider consultation were made before advising Mr President on inclusion of NAU because the University was not even in existence during the Orosanye panel seatings.”