Nigerian Military School

Military high school in Zaria, Nigeria

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Nigerian Military School

Other name

| NMS

|

Type| military academy
Established| 1954 (1954)
Affiliation| Armed Forces of Nigeria
Location|

Zaria

Kaduna State

Nigeria

Website| https://www.nms1954.sch.ng/

The Nigerian Military School, Zaria, popularly known as (NMS), is a military boarding school in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, affiliated with the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

## History

[edit]

### Boys Company

[edit]

It was founded as the Boys Company of Nigeria in 1954, 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. The present day Military School came into being on May 20, 1954. The Nigerian Military School (NMS) had a student battalion that consisted of 4 company in its early years:

* Alpha Company
* Bravo Company
* Charlie Company
* Delta Company

Three additional companies were added:

* Echo Company
* Foxtrot Company
* Golf Company.[1]

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 first Commandant of the School, was Captain Wellington Duke Bassey.

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.[1]

### NMS

[edit]

In 1960, the name "Boys Company" was changed to Nigerian Military School.[2] In 1965 the first set of Boys took the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination in which they performed creditably well.[1][3] 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.

## Structure

[edit]

The school is segmented into 5 main Wings:

* Headquarters
* Military Wing
* Education Wing
* Boys Battalion
* Administrative Company.

## Education

[edit]

The Nigerian Military School gives its students both academic and military training. Every boy soldier as the students are called has one day a week dedicated strictly to military training while the other four days of the week are dedicated to academic training. Similar to other secondary schools, the students sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Exam prior to graduation. The students also have the privilege to earn a commission into the Nigerian Army as private soldiers on the successful completion of their training and graduation from the secondary school.[4]

The initial group of students was known as the "First Platoon" who were sons and wards of serving military personnel. However its military history can be traced to 1951 when the idea of establishing "Boys Company" along the same pattern of the Boys Wing of British Army was conceived for each of the West African Colonies Namely: the Gambia, Gold coast(Ghana), Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The Nigerian military school prides itself due to its numerous successes in regional and national quizzes, drama and sporting competition. It is also said to have one of the highest educational and academic standards in the country, more than most conventional civil high schools in Nigeria.

## Notable alumni

[edit]

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article and are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (March 2019)

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Main page: Category:Nigerian Military School alumni

NMS has produced numerous Senior Military officers and Senior Staff in both Government and Private sectors. till date it has produced a military vice president, four chiefs of defence staff and a president of the united nations general assembly. Some of its alumni include

* Tunde Idiagbon
* Joseph Garba
* John Shagaya
* Jeremiah Useni
* John Inienger
* Salihu Ibrahim
* Buba Marwa
* John Dungs
* Yakubu Mu'azu
* Alexander Ogomudia
* Abubakar Sani Bello
* Abdulkareem Adisa
* Senator David Mark
* George Alily
* Raji Rasaki
* Abdussamad Dasuki
* Zamani Lekwot
* Abayomi Olonisakin
* Ola Ibrahim
* Emmanuel Ogalla
* Hassan Abubakar

## Houses

[edit]

To encourage sporting activities and competition as attendance increased, four houses were created: Exham, Inglis, FairBanks and Swynnerton. These names were later changed to Giffard, Tranchard, Whistler and Lugard.

As the School changed to School certificate status shortly after independence, the house names were also changed to Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu and Kaduna. The new names were chosen to reflect the regional capitals of the country.

In 1976, two additional houses were added and the names were again changed. The new house names reflected military company designations: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot.

One additional has been added: Gulf, the 7th company. In late 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.[3]

## Commandants

[edit]

Since its inception, the Military Institution has at various times been commanded by numerous Officers. They are as follows:

Commandant  | Took office  | Left office

|
|

Capt. WU Bassy  | 20 May 1954  | 31 Dec 1956
Maj CJ Grindley  | 01 Jan 1956  | 31 Dec 1959
Maj RK Gardiner  | 01 Jan 1960  | 31 July 1961
Maj JM McCarter  | 01 Aug 1961  | 28 Feb 1962
Maj PJ Wakeman  | 01 Mar 1962  | 09 Nov 1964
Lt Col TB Ogundeko  | 10 Nov 1964  | 09 Nov 1972
Lt Col TO Oduniyi  | 10 Nov 1972  | 02 Aug 1977
Col-BrigGen CB Ndiomu  | 03 Nov 1977  | 02 Aug 1982
Col O Daramola FSS AMNIN  | 03 Aug 1982  | 23 Sep 1985
Col. A Fakulujo FSS psc  | 24 Sep 1985  | 13 Oct 1990
Col-BrigGen FA Ogunribido FSS MSS  | 14 Oct 1990  | 31 July 1993
Col EBA Okodaso FSS MSS psc  | 01 Aug 1993  | 30 Jan 1995
Brig Gen HB Momoh FSS MSS psc mni  | 26 Jan 1995  | 30 Jan 1997
Brig Gen SA Sofoluwe FSS MSS psc mni  | 31 Jan 1997  | 31 Mar 1999
Brig Gen SK Oni FSS MSS PhD  | 01 Apr 1999  | 26 Apr 2000
Col D Bitrus MSS psc  | 27 Apr 2000  | 12 Aug 2003
Col IG Bauka SS psc LLB BL  | 13 Aug 2003  | 05 Sep 2005
Col CO Esekhaigbe MSS psc B.Sc(Hons) MILD PGD MIMC  | 05 Sep 2005  | 01 Sep 2006
Col GJ Udi Fss Mss psc  | 01 Sep 2006  | 31 Dec 2007
Brig Gen FS Amuche MSS psc MSc  | 31 Dec 2007  | 05 Aug 2009
Col LF Abdullahi Fss Mss Psc PhD  | 05 Aug 2009  | 30 Aug 2013
Brig Gen JA Fayehun Fss Mss PGDE  | 30 Aug 2013  | 31 Dec 2015
Maj Gen MM Bunza DSS TSM FCAI YAP NEGL CLN  | 31 Dec 2015  | 06 Jan 2020
Maj Gen BH Mohammed FSS MSS DSS TSM CMH MTRCN  | 06 Jan 2020  |
Brig Gen UJ Makbere  |  |
Brig Gen AU Aun  |  | Date

## References

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1. ^ a b c "About Us | Nigerian Military School (NMS)". www.nms1954.sch.ng. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
2. ^ "The History of NMS". Exboys of the Nigerian Military School. 2020-05-19. Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
3. ^ a b "The Nigerian Military School, Zaria". fctexboys.org. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
4. ^ "About Us | Nigerian Military School (NMS)". servantboy.com. Retrieved 2020-12-24.

## External links

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* https://www.exboys.co.uk /Official Website of Ex Boys of Nigerian Military School, Zaria in the UK]
* https://www.nms1954.sch.ng /Official website of the Nigerian Military School
* https://www.nmsexboys.com /Home of Ex-Boys of the Nigerian Military School, Zaria]
* https://t.me/joinchat/MCU-bXHkJhAzZDVk /Parents Instructors' Association (PIA)
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp0u0z6Zlh4&t=227s /clps
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLFg3Vlh4bE /clips