The Commandant, National Defence College
(NDC), Rear Admiral Samuel Alade, said that
the college would continue to sustain its
policy of admitting only officers that have
complied with the Body Mass Index.
Alade said on Saturday that the policy was
aimed at ensuring that only physically and
mentally fit officers were admitted to the
college for training.
The college’s deputy commandant, Maj.-Gen.
Ede Ode, who represented Alade, stated this in
Abuja at the NDC 2016 Sports Day organised
as part of activities to mark the Course 24
graduation ceremony.
Alade said apart from the college’s academic
programmes, both staff and students were
encouraged to participate in sporting activities
in line with the military’s objective of
maintaining physical fitness at all times.
The commandant noted that sports were an
integral part of activities at the College both
as a unifying factor and an exercise to keep
the body healthy.
He said: “Just as we take the matter of
academics seriously at the college, we equally
pay attention to the matter of physical fitness.
“We appreciate and will sustain the directive
from the services that officers shortlisted for
the 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,’’ he added.
Alade said that sports were being used to
strengthen the bond between directing staff
and participants on one hand and on the
other hand, foreign participants and other
members of the college community.
On his part, Minister of Sports and Youth
Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung
commended the management of the NDC for
integrating sports in its training programme.
Represented by the Director, Grassroots
Sports, Mr Shua Umar, Dalung said the Armed
Forces policy on physical fitness was worthy
of emulation and should be replicated in
other fields of the public sector.
The minister said the ministry would continue
to identify key stakeholders and build
partnerships that would advance the cause of
sports in Nigeria.
He pledged the continued support of his
ministry to the college, offering to work
closer with participants in the near future, in
the area of sports development.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
games like football, volleyball, basketball,
table tennis, lawn tennis and scrabble teams
were played to mark the occasion. (NAN)
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