Pulse.ng : NDA Cadets Make History As The Only International Competitors In Maiden Chinese Military Sailing Skills Competition

Maj.-Gen. JO Ochai (middle) with cadets of the NDA (Participants) at the Chinese International Seamanship Competition

By Mohammed Tijjani

Seven cadets of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) have made history, being the only internationals to fly its country’s flag as the only international competitors who competed against their Chinese counterparts at the maiden edition of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Navy “Deep Sea Warior” International Seamanship
Competition hosted by the PLA Naval Submarine Academy held at the Qingdao International Sailing Centre

The competition began from 16 – 21 October, 2023.

In a report made available to newsmen on Sartuday at the NDA headquarters in Kaduna, showed that the seven cadets of the NDA, comprised six males and one female.

The Cadets were; TS Olajide, JO Ughasoro, OD Hassan, JP Offikwu, AS Mohammed, K Nsirim and MS Umana.

The cadets, who spent a week in China and won several medals at the competition, joined other Midshipmen from seven other countries and overseas cadets studying at China’s naval academies, as well as their Chinese counterparts, participating in the weeklong “Deep Sea Warrior” International Seamanship Competition and International
Midshipman Exchange Week in Qingdoa.

However, of the eight foreign participating countries, only cadets from the NDA competed alongside their
Chinese counterparts in the various events in the seamanship competition, where other countries participated as observers.

Commenting on the courage of the cadets to have participated as the only competitors at the seamanship competition in and their impressive performance, the NDA Commandant, Maj.-Gen. John Ochai, praised
the cadets enthusiasm and spirit of sportsmanship.

He disclosed that the development was a product of the new cadets
training curriculum recently adopted by the Academy to make its graduate more attuned to modern warfare while preparing them adequately, with the right skills and aptitude to fit into the needs of the Nigerian Armed Forces and
bring the current throes of insecurity in Nigeria to a stop.

“The training in NDA has been boosted with the new training curriculum which places more emphasis on physical fitness and special military capabilities for our cadets.

“What you witnessed is a direct result of this new path to cadets’ training in NDA,”Maj.-Gen. Ochai said.

He added that recently, cadets of the NDA have been performing excellently in various national and international platforms, noting that one of the cadet (Cadet PO Okoh), received the prestigious Hudsons Horse Award for Particular Merit during the recent Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK in August, 2023.

Similarly, Cadet HY Nurudeen from NDA was awarded Best International Officer Cadet for the month of September/Ocober 2022 at the Britannia
Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, UK.

Also, Cadet, DO Sangokoya also graduated as the best Allied Cadet at the Royal Airforce College, Cranwel, UK.

All the three cadets have been commissioned into the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Accordingly, Maj.-Gen. Ochai reiterated that under his command, NDA would continue to improve training and producing officers with exceptional skills for the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Newsmen gathered that the International Seamanship Competition held in Qingdao International Sailing Centre and the nearby waters, where the seven NDA cadets competed for laurels alongside their Chinese counterparts, hosted a number of events which included Sailing Skills, Maritime Obstacle Relay Race, Maritime Lifesaving
Race and Team Triathlon, among others.

The cadets also participated in other activities such as academic exchanges, seminars, visits to
Naval venues, friendly sporting competitions and midshipman club activities,
which formed part of activities for the Midshipmen Exchange Week, themed
“Joining Hands to Build a Maritime Community with a Shared Future, And Making the Blue Ocean More Peaceful and Prosperous in Our Era”.

Participation of the seven cadets of the NDA at the
International Seamanship Competition and Exchange Week was a historic event that put Nigerian on the global map as the first and only country to compete in
the competition against the host, China, within the latter’s territorial waters.

At the end of the competition, NDA participants won a number of medals in several categories, putting up an impressive performance for Nigeria on the international stage.