Nigerian military school

The history of the Nigerian Military School Zaria dates back to 1954 when the Boys-Company of Nigeria was established under the auspices of Nigerian Regiment Training centre of the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF). The school was established along with three others in the British Colonial West Africa in Gambia, Gold Coast (now Ghana), and Sierra-Leone. It was modeled after the Boys Wing of the British Army. However, the present day Military School came into being on May 20 1954.

The Boys Company as it used to be called was established as a full fledged training institution under the regimentation and administration of the defunct Nigerian Regimental Training Centre (NRTC) now Depot NA.

The aim of the school was the production of "middle and skilled manpower" to replace the departing British Colonial NCOs. Thus, a lot of emphasis was laid on military and academic training. In 1958, ten Boys from the School sat for the overseas Armed Forces General Certificate Examination and the school changed to school certificate status.

In 1960, the name "Boys Company" was changed to Nigerian Military School. In 1965 the first set of Boys wrote the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in which they performed creditably well. Since then, the school's performance in such examination has always been excellent.

With the introduction of the new National Policy on Education, the School now runs six-year training programme broken into junior and senior classes of three years duration respectively. A Board of Governors was established to oversee the running of the school.

To facilitate effective administration, Military and Academic training, the school is segmented into 5 main Wings: The Headquarters, Military wing, Education Wing, Boys Battalion and the Administrative Company.

The first Commandant of the School s Boys Company was Captain WU Bassey. . Since the establishment of this great Military institution, it has at various times been commanded by distinguished Military Officers.

Ex Pupils

Ex-pupils of the school (commonly known as Ex-boys have risen to top ranks and positions in the Armed Forces in Nigeria. Notable among these are Major General Joseph Nanven Garba (July 17 1943 – June 1 2002), Tunde Idiagbon (b. 14 September 1942 - d. 24 March 1999), Buba Marwa, John Shagaya and Salihu Ibrahim just to mention a few.The establishment of the Nigerian Military School dates back to the colonial periods. It was part of the general process of Nigerianising the Army as independence became imminent. The origin of the School could be traced to 1951 when it was suggested by the West African Command that a “Boys Company” should be established in each of the four British colonies namely; Nigeria, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Sierra Leone and the Gambia along with the pattern of the “Boys Wing” in the British Army. The idea remained in gestation until 20 May 1954 when the School eventually came into being with an initial intake of thirty (30) Boys, known then as the first platoon. The primary aim of setting up the institution was “to inculcate the family tradition into the force.” Perhaps this explains why the 30 initial recruits of the platoon were mostly children of soldiers (see MARCHING ON – The Nigerian Military School. By Ahmadu and Famola. 1995).

Almost immediately after its establishment, the School became a full-fledged training institution under the regimentation and administration of the defunct Nigerian Regimental Training Centre (NRTC) now Depot Nigerian Army. This however did not make the institution a subsidiary of NRTC.

HOUSES/COMPANIES AND THEIR NAMES

To encourage sporting activities and healthy competition as the school population of students increased, four houses were created namely; Exham, Inglis, FairBanks and Swynnerton houses. These names were later changed to Giffard, Tranchard, Whistler and Lugard.

As the School changed to School certificate status shortly after independence, the colonial names were also changed to reflect the regional capitals of the country viz Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu and Kaduna houses.

In 1976, the four-houses structure was expanded to six and their names changed to reflect military company designations – Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot. Gulf, the 7th company is a recent creation. In late last year (2003), the School changed to the old names of Kaduna, Lagos, Ibadan and Enugu, with Abuja, Calabar and Zaria given to the additional new companies of Echo, Foxtrot and Gulf.

External links

* [http://www.nmszaria.org/ Official Website of Nigerian Military School Zaria]
* [http://www.exboys.com/ Official Website of Ex Boys of Nigerian Military School, Zaria]
* [http://www.exboysparade.com/ New Website for Ex boys of Nigeria Military School, Zaria]