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

Boys Company 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.

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.

NMS In 1960, the name "Boys Company" was changed to Nigerian Military School. In 1965 the first set of Boys took the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination in which they performed creditably well. 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 The school is segmented into 5 main Wings:

Headquarters Military Wing Education Wing Boys Battalion Administrative Company.

Education The Nigerian Military School gives its boy soldiers 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 civil secondary schools, the students sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Exam prior to graduation. The boys join the Nigerian Army as private soldiers on passing out from the Nigerian Military school.

The initial group of boy soldiers were 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. It further prides itself in producing very notable persons within and outside Nigeria.

Notable 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

Companies In line with the structure of a battalion as the Military School changed from being Boy’s Company to a battalion status and to encourage sporting activities and competition as attendance increased, four companies 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 companies 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 companies were added and the names were again changed. The new companies names reflected military company designations: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot.

One additional has been added: Golf, the 7th company. In late 2003, the School changed to the old names of Kaduna, Lagos, Ibadan and Enugu, with Abuja, Calabar and Zaria companies given to the additional new companies of Echo, Foxtrot and Gulf.

Commandants Since its inception, the Military Institution has at various times been commanded by numerous Officers. They are as follows: CommandantTook officeLeft officeCapt WU Bassy 20 May 1954 31 Dec 1956Maj 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 Maj - Col TB Ogundeko 10 Nov 196409 Nov 1972 Lt Col- Col TO Oduniyi 10 Nov 1972 02 Aug 1977 Col - Brig Gen CB Ndiomu 03 Nov 197702 Aug 1982 Col O Daramola FSS AMNIN 03 Aug 1982 23 Sep 1985 Col IA Fakulujo FSS psc 24 Sep 1985 13 Oct 1990 Col - Brig Gen FA Ogunribido FSS MSS 14 Oct 1990 31 July 1993 Col EBA Okodaso FSS MSS psc 01 Aug 199330 Jan 1995 Brig Gen HB Momoh FSS MSS psc mni26 Jan 199530 Jan 1997Brig Gen SA Sofoluwe FSS MSS psc mni31 Jan 199731 Mar 1999Brig Gen SK Oni FSS MSS PhD01 Apr 199926 Apr 2000Col D Bitrus MSS psc27 Apr 200012 Aug 2003Col IG Bauka FSS psc LLB BL13 Aug 200305 Sep 2005Col CO Esekhaigbe MSS psc B.Sc(Hons) MILD PGD MIMC05 Sep 200501 Sep 2006Col GJ Udi Fss Mss psc01 Sep 200631 Dec 2007Brig Gen FS Amuche MSS psc MSc31 Dec 200705 Aug 2009Col LF Abdullahi Fss Mss Psc PhD05 Aug 200930 Aug 2013Col - Brig Gen JA Fayehun Fss Mss PGDE30 Aug 201331 Dec 2015Brig Gen - Maj Gen MM Bunza DSS TSM FCAI YAP NEGL CLN PhD 31 Dec 201506 Jan 2020Brig Gen - Maj Gen BH Mohammed FSS MSS DSS TSM CMH MTRCN06 Jan 202021 Jan 2021Brig Gen UJ Makbere FSS MSS DSS MTRCN 21 Jan 2021 30 Apr 2021 Brig Gen JT Aun DSS FNARC MTRCN CCMN MSMPS MA 30 Apr 202120 Jan 2023 Brig Gen AD Aliyu DSS fdc MTRCN MA 20 Jan 2023 24 Jan 2025 Brig Gen ON Ejiga FSS MSS psc(+) fwc fdc 24 Jan 2025 To Date

References

External links 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