Nigeria Defence College has No place for FAT officers – Commandant

The Commandant, National Defence College (NDC), Samuel Alade, has said only officers with average body mass index shall continue make the admission list at the elite military training institution.

Mr Alade, a Rear Admiral, said officers who are obese would not be admitted into the NDC irrespective of their other qualifications, both academic and marksmanship.

Speaking at the NDC’s 2016 Sports Day organized as part of the Course 24 graduation ceremony, Rear Admiral Alade, who was represented by his deputy commandant, Major General Ede Ode, said the strict body mass policy was aimed at ensuring that only physically and mentally fit officers were admitted to the college for training.

The Commandant said sporting has remained an integral part of the college’s academic programmes which requires both staff and students alike to fully participate in order to achieve the military’s objective of maintaining physical fitness at all times.

“Just as we take the matter of academics seriously at the college, we equally pay attention to the matter of physical fitness,” the commandant said.

“We appreciate and will sustain the directive from the services that officers shortlisted for the National Defence College programme must comply with the Body Mass Index.

“The essence is to ensure that the participants are healthy, physically and mentally fit to undergo such rigorous training.’’

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung, who was represented by the Director, Grass Root Sports, Shua Umar, commended the management of the NDC for integrating sports in its training programme.

 Mr. Dalung said, the Armed Forces policy on physical fitness was worthy of emulation and should be replicated in other fields of the public sector.

He added that the sports ministry would continue to identify key stakeholders and build partnerships that would advance the cause of sports in Nigeria.

The course 24 participants played’ football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, lawn tennis and scrabble to mark their graduation ceremony.