NDA Cadets Make History Become The Only International Competitors In Maiden Chinese Military Sailing Skills Competition

NDA Cadets Make History Become The Only International Competitors In Maiden Chinese Military Sailing Skills Competition

Seven cadets of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) have made international history by flying Nigeria’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 Warrior” International Seamanship Competition hosted by the PLA Naval Submarine Academy and was held at the Qingdao International Sailing Centre from 16 – 21 October, 2023.

The seven cadets of NDA, comprising 6 male cadets and one female cadet, include Cadets TS Olajide, JO Ughasoro, OD Hassan and JP Offikwu. Others are Cadets 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 8 foreign participants only cadets from the Nigerian Defence Academy competed alongside their Chinese counterparts in the various events in the seamanship competition, other countries participated as Observers.

Commenting on the courage of the cadets to participate as the only competitors at the seamanship competition in China, and their impressive performance at the competition, the Commandant NDA, Major General JO Ochai, praised the cadets and disclosed that the development is a product of the new cadets training curriculum recently adopted by the Academy to make its graduate more attuned to modern warfare and prepare them adequately, with the right skills and aptitude, to quickly 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 are witnessing is a direct result of this new path to cadets’ training in NDA,” Maj Gen Ochai revealed.

He added that recently cadets of the Nigerian Defence Academy have been performing excellently in various national and international platforms, noting that only recently a cadet of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Cadet PO Okoh, received the prestigious Hudson’s Horse Award for Particular Merit during the recent Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK in August, 2023. Likewise, Cadet HY Nurudeen from NDA was awarded Best International Officer Cadet for the month of September/October 2022 at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, UK. Another cadet, DO Sangokoya also graduated as the Best Allied Cadet at the Royal Airforce College, Cranwell, UK. All three cadets have been commissioned into the Nigerian Armed Forces. Accordingly, Maj Gen Ochai reiterated that under his command NDA will continue to improve the training and produce officers with exceptional skills for the Nigerian Armed Forces.

The International Seamanship Competition held in Qingdao International Sailing Centre and the nearby waters, where the seven NDA cadets would be competed for laurels alongside their Chinese counterparts, hosted a number of events including Sailing Skills, Maritime Obstacle Relay Race, Maritime Lifesaving Race and Team Triathlon, among other competitive events. 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”.

The participation of the seven cadets of the Nigerian Defence Academy at the International Seamanship Competition and Exchange Week is 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.