The National Defence College recently celebrated 25 years of its existence. BLESSING OLAIFA writes on the celebration and examines the contributions of the college to military training, service and discipline.
IT might not be apparent to everyone but the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja has quite a lot to be proud of. In its 25 years of existence, the NDC has transformed into a world-class military institution. A fountain of knowledge, it attracts top military officers who come in search of strategic training in warfare. No fewer than 18 countries from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe have sent their military chiefs to the NDC. Some world leaders have also endorsed the institution by sharing their experiences, knowledge and ideas as a tool towards achieving global peace and security, stability and development.
The latest dignitary to visit the college was Uganda President Yoweri Museveni who called on September 15 to deliver the inaugural lecture for participants of its Course 26.
Museveni is among contemporary African leaders who can be said to have seen it all. He was involved in a series of struggles in his country, fighting for liberation, political growth and development, peace and security, regional stability and cooperation on the continent and beyond.
Coincidentally, Museveni came at a period Nigeria was attending to challenges of security in all facets its national life.
The Ugandan leader began his lecture by saying Africa was the continent of all firsts, wondering how the continent became the last in all facets of development in the past 500 years.
In the light of the trajectory of the experiences of African countries viz a viz the present happenings in Nigeria, President Museveni cautioned against politics of identity not only in Nigeria but other African countries, saying those playing politics of identity are doing a disservice to their countries, and to Africa.
He said “Nigerians should stop playing politics of identity. I am Fulani, or I am Yoruba. No, it should be primarily politics of interests based on where your prosperity comes from.
“Every member of my ethnic group in Uganda has cow and milk, but we cannot achieve prosperity by selling these products to ourselves, so we have to look beyond our ethnic group to achieve prosperity. China and India opened up their economies in the late 70s. Today, their Gross Domestic Products are in trillions of dollars.”
Though his lecture to the Course 26 participants was titled “Sub-Regional Cooperation and the Stability of Member States: Economic Community of East African States in Perspective”, President Museveni was blunt by insisting that for development and growth to take shape in African countries, Africans must embrace one another and work closely with each other in all areas of human endeavors to optimise its potentials and opportunities.
Accompanied to the event by the Uganda Foreign Affairs Minister and Uganda Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Museveni said African countries should begin to examine themselves within the context of how a continent of many firsts 3,500 years ago became the last on all fronts in the past 500 years.
“In the last 500 years, Africa has gone down. It has suffered all sorts of afflictions, slave trade, colonialism, genocide, marginalisation and diseases and many other misfortunes,” Mr. Museveni lamented.
According to him, African countries would have been built around five pillars of attainment of independence, entrenchment of democracy, prosperity, security and preservations of the cultures of the peoples.
But such lofty goals, he argued, could not be achieved for many reasons, chief among which were lack of unity, slave trade, colonialism, poor political organisation and the fact that African countries were fragmented politically into kingdoms and chiefdoms.
The Ugandan leader argued that the Chinese and Indians were not making much progress until they opened up their economy around 1978, noting that in 1978 Chinese exported goods stood at 8 billion dollars, while it is standing at 2 trillion dollars now.
”China Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in 1978 was 218 billion dollars, compared to 11,222 trillion dollars today, while Indian’s Gross Domestic Products of 202 billion dollars is standing at over 11 trillion dollars today,” President Museveni stated.
He warned that economic prosperity cannot guarantee strategic security as it should be noted that countries like France and Poland that could be adjudged as prosperous and technologically advanced were annexed by Germany before World War II.
President Museveni who further argued that political integration for economic prosperity should be the strategic anchor for African security asserted that in contemporary world emphasis is on human resources than natural resources and therefore urged Africans to invest more on human resources for its growth and development.
On his part, the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Adeniyi Osinowo said as an international and strategic institution, the College was committed to interrogating the factors that impacted on regional security and development with a view to proffer credible strategies towards addressing them hence the choice of President Museveni as the guest lecturer and the topic.
Rear Admiral Osinowo described President Museveni as” a political juggernaut and strategist, a nationalist per excellence who revitalized Uganda by providing political stability, a growing economy, and improved infrastructure.”
“He also instituted a number of capitalist reforms that have impacted on national development and security in Uganda. His ABC strategy for combating HIV/AIDS remains one of the best in Sub-Sahara Africa.
“Our guest lecturer is a regional integrator for East and Central Africa, and a Pan-Africanist who had gone through thick and thin to preserve the dignity, culture and tradition of the peoples of Africa,” Rear Admiral Osinowo said.
The Minister of Defence, Musuid Dan Ali, lauded the Uganda President for honouring the invitation extended to him by the country, stressing that it would go a long way to strengthen the cordial relationship existing between Nigeria and Uganda.
He said Nigeria and Uganda had signed lots of bilateral agreements on trade and investments, air travels, and other technical agreements, noting that Uganda remains a host to so many Nigerian products and brands.
