The Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Hon. Nanette Thomas has today 25th May 2017 hosted a 22 man delegation from the Nigerian National Defence College Course 25 Strategic World Study team in Freetown.
The Permanent Secretary, Mr. Israel Jigba who also doubles as the Chairman for the ceremony called the meeting to order and introduced the members of staff of the Ministry of Political and Public Affairs.
In welcoming the visiting delegation, the Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Hon. Nanette Thomas expressed satisfaction in hosting the team from Nigeria.
She went on to further comment on the good political and diplomatic relationship between the two sister countries especially in providing technical assistance to the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces.
She ended that Sierra Leone relies on significant amounts of foreign assistance from both bilateral and multilateral donors especially during the civil war and most recently during the Ebola crisis.
The Director, Ministry of Political and Public Affairs, James B. Sesay gave an overview of the Ministry’s mandate and a brief history of the Ministry since its establishment.
Presenting on the topic “Democratic Governance in Sierra Leone” the National Coordinator of Outreach, Mr. Mucktarr Tejan-Cole gave an outstanding PowerPoint Presentation on the Democratic processes.
He called on all to observe a minute of silent for the death of the Former Nigerian Commander of the ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force, Sierra Leone and Chief of Defence Staff of Sierra Leone,
Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe and Army General, Sani Abacha. He also commended the good works of Major General Timothy Mai Shelpidi.
The Coordinator of the delegation, Brigadier General Akinbobola Alexander Ojajune spoke about the purpose of their visit which was to familiarize with the governance structures, political tolerance in Sierra Leone and transparency and accountability during the past elections.
In brief, the National Defence College is the apex military training institution for the Nigerian Armed Forces, and a Centre of Excellence for peace support operations training at the strategic level in West Africa.
The National Defence College (NDC) was established in 1992 as the highest military institution for the training of senior military officers in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Armed Forces had long established a strong tri-service military training heritage with the establishment of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, for cadet training, and the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, for middle level staff training, it was appropriate and cost effective to continue the tradition by establishing the new strategic level military institution, the National Defence College, on a tri-service basis.
The Objectives of the College are to: 👇👇👇👇
👉 Prepare senior military and civilian officers for operational and strategic level responsibilities at national and international environments.
👉 Underpin leadership and command functions with a firm understanding of geographical considerations affecting Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
👉 Develop an in-depth understanding of elements of national power which will aid in the formulation of Grand National strategy.
👉 Provide knowledge of the political and strategic framework for policy making and operations in joint and multinational environments. Relate within a democratic framework, the higher management of defence to the broader national interests.
👉 Undertake advanced academic research at national strategic policy level.
👉 Proffer policy recommendations on specific national and international issues that border on national security.
Discussions, reactions and resolutions were debated on issues surrounding grassroots politics, strategies on transparency and accountability during elections and the management of our minerals.
A symbolic gift was presented to the Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Hon. Nanette Thomas on behalf of the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Samuel Ilesanmi Alade. Controller A. M. Haliru extols the Minister and her team for the warm reception given to them during their visit and Sierra Leone and wishes her well in her political aspirations.
The visit was climaxed with a vote of thanks by the National Coordinator of Public Mobilization, Mr. Ousman Sankoh.
