Sacking of over 50 NDA Cadets: How Gen. Sarham Goofed

HOW MAJ GEN JAMIL SARHAM GOOFED OVER 9 ILLEGALLY WITHDRAWN OFFICER CADETS, THE FRAUD IN NEW NDA HANDBOOK, THE 67TH REGULAR COURSE INTRIGUES AND THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE DOSIER REVIEW

The 67-Regular Course (Army, Navy and Airforce) reported for training in the NDA in September 2015. DESERT HERALD can report that the duration of Regular Combatant Training at the Nigeria Defense Academy, NDA, is a duration of 5 years for Army cadets (4 years academic,1 year military) and 4 years for the Navy and Airforce cadet after which they proceed to Nigeria Naval College, Onne Port Harcourt and 301 Flying Training School (301FTS), Kaduna respectively for 1 year training at their respective services before they will now be commissioned to the rank of Sub-Lieutenant and Pilot Officer respectively without coming back to the NDA. This clearly shows that Naval and Airforce Cadets don’t have anything to do in the NDA after convocation and passing out from the Academy because after their one year training they are going to be fully commissioned in their various Services Training Centers respectively (NNC Onne and 301 FTS Kaduna). That has been the practice in the NDA and has remained so until few months ago when the newly appointed Commandant, Maj Gen Jamil Sarham, acted illegally in an attempt to violate the provisions of the NDA Hand Book, all in an effort to execute a vendetta against certain Cadets while ignoring some in a clear case of selective justice.

After the passing our parade and convocation ceremony of 67th Regular Course of the Navy and Airforce Cadets and 66 Regular Course Army on the 5th October 2019, some of the passed out cadets were placed on restriction, such restriction was not even supposed to be meant for passed out cadets according to the NDA Handbook (2018 Revised Handbook). But on the process some of the passed out cadets on Restriction were selected and charged for being absent just because one of the passed out cadets on restriction did his Thanks-Giving Walimah in a hotel in Kaduna (Hotel 17) and NTA televised a short clip of it. The poor passed out cadets were now charged and still tried by the NDA even though they have passed out and were on the process of doing their clearance. As a punishment of honouring the invitation of their colleague even though they have already had their POP, they were then tried by the then Deputy Commandant, AVM IS KAITA and were now relegated to add additional one year in the Academy doing nothing because they have convocated and also done with their final military exams. All of them have passed their final military exams. In fact, some of them were even given academic awards of excellence by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who then represented President Muhammadu Buhari during their well publicised convocation. An irony happens, a clear indictment on the part of the management of the NDA when the unfair judgment of Gen Sarham suggests that the affected Cadets are not only losing their uniforms but the academic qualification of an equivalent to Degree they have struggled over the years to earn for themselves. His brand of judgment suggests that they are not even entitled to their Degree qualifications even though it is the same NDA that cleared them and even gave some of the academic awards.

It was after some months, that is in January 2020, that the NDA Commandant, Major General Jamil Sarham, conducted a rather controversial dossier review for the whole NDA cadets but illegally included the passed out cadets. As a result, he withdraw 53 cadets including 9 of the passed out cadets.

Now as gathered by DESERT HERALD the implications of this dossier review on all the members of the 67th Regular Course, Navy and Airforce cadets are:

1. The Commandant, Gen. Sarham, wants to illegally bring the Navy and Airforce back to NDA for a new Passing Out Parade and pipping in the NDA after they have already passed out;

2. Gen. Sarham wants to illegally make use of the new Handbook he revised in 2020 after they have already passed out under the rules and regulations of the cadet Handbook of 2018 revised;

3. He will also use that to justify his illegal decision of withdrawing the 9 Officer Cadets of 67th Regular Course whose case of illegal withdrawal after their successful POP and Convocation is already before the National Assembly.

Certainly, there is no way their case will be determined by a fraudulent Handbook of 2020 whose purpose is mainly to review indicting clauses against Sarham’s decision and to allow him to execute and justify a vendetta against certain Cadets;

4. If the Cadets of 67th Regular Course (Navy and Airforce) come back to NDA from Onne and 301 Flying Training School almost 70 of them are going to be affected if the said dossier review is conducted that is after they have passed out since October 2019;

5. There is going to be a massive damage because these Cadets have already passed out and started their military careers. So, if they are later withdrawn there is going to be tension, uncertainty in the society.

This Cadets are already trained with arms and military bearing, so if they are now withdrawn with the high rate of insecurity in the country the security imbroglio may likely worsen as frustrations, lack of employment can influence many of them to go against the state.