Nigeria military school Zaria, popularly known as (NMS), was founded in 1954 as boys company of Nigeria, was established under the auspices of Nigerian Regiment training center 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 four 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 center (NRTC) now deport NA
THE AIM OF THE SCHOOL
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.
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 program broken into junior and senior classes of three years duration respectively. A board of governors was established to oversee the running of the school.
to facilitate effective administration, military and academic training, the school is segmented into five main wings:
- the headquarters
- military wing
- education wing
- boys battalion
- administrative company. The first commandant of the school, then known as Boys Company, was Captain Wellington Duke Bassey
EDUCATION
The Nigerian military school gives its student both academic and military training. every boy soldier as the students 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 west Africa Senior School Certificate Exam prior to graduation. the student also have the privilege to earn a commission into the Nigerian army as private soldiers on successful completion of their training and graduation from secondary school.
initial group of the student was known as the “first platoon” who were sons and wards of serving military personnel. How ever its military history can be traced to 1951 when the of establishing “Boys Company” along the 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 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 pf the highest educational and academic standards in the country, more than most conventional civil high schools in Nigeria.
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