 Rear Admiral Abdullahi Ahmed has sought for the support of){kind=link}
The Commandant of National Defence College (NDC) Rear Admiral Abdullahi Ahmed has sought for the support of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to deepen the College’s research capacity and curriculum overhaul in response to evolving security challenges in Nigeria and integration of Artificial Intelligence.
Ahmed who is the 22nd Commandant of the College, made the appeal during a high-level visit to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono at the Fund’s Headquarters, Abuja, where the duo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on several collaborative Initiatives.
“The support will enable us to deepen our research capacity and ensure that our curriculum remains relevant to the evolving national security challenges,” he said.
Ahmed said that on assumption of duty, he initiated review of the curriculum, expressing strong belief that with support and input from TETFund, the College would attain the standard he has envisioned.
He said that “the focus of the curriculum review is the application of artificial intelligence, strategic thinking and policy making.”
According to him, as an apex security training institution in the country, the College is involved in strategic research and journal publications which are peer-reviewed in Africa and of global standard, appealing to the TETFund boss for the sponsorship of the publications.
He added that the visit was also to appreciate TETFund for its intervention in infrastructure development not only in the College but tertiary institutions across the country.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono in his remark, said the MoU signed covered broad areas of collaboration between the National Defence College and Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
Echono underscored the need to continue to support institutions like National Defence College and others that are promoting research and also advancing the overall development of the country.
Echono used the occasion to commend
men and women in uniform who are making very difficult sacrifices of keeping the nation safe, and protecting Nigerians, some of whom are also paying the high price.
He said: “As the apex military training institution in the country, it’s only natural that you will lead in the area of intelligence and research, which is why only last year, TETFund decided to expand the scope of its research interventions to include a new thematic area called military and intelligence sector. That has been institutionalised, and we allocate resources for it”.
Speaking further on the imperative of the collaboration, Echono said all over the world, most of the advances in science have their origin in the military, citing the Global Positioning System, (GPS) being used today to find locations among others which are developed as part of military science.
He, therefore, expressed the commitment of TETFund to help advance and elevate the level of contributions of the military beyond the kinetic protection that they provide for the nation to other areas including exploring avenues for growth and development of the country.