MY EXPERIENCE AT THE NIGERIAN ARMY SHORT SERVICE COMBATANT COURSE 46/2020 SELECTION BOARD. . .
It has always been a thing of Passion and Admiration for me to join The Nigerian Army since my Childhood days. As I was growing up, that passion grew with me. Although I never went to any Military School or The Academy, (It was on my mind, but through guidance from a lot of people, I was advised to complete my Tertiary Education first) I kept the Dream and was looking forward to when I would apply. The chance came in 2018, then I applied for the Short Service Course (I had done a lot of Research about SSC and DSSC, coupled with various Consultations, I then concluded that SSC was best for me). I was so optimistic and certain that I would be selected to the extent that I sew my Navy blue shorts from a Tailor and was also exercising daily despite the nature of my job (Factory Worker). The list came out, I wasn’t selected and I was really depressed. I pulled myself together and continued living.
I applied when the form came out last year and wasn’t as optimistic as before. It was my friend who rang to inform me that my name was shortlisted. To be honest here, I wasn’t excited. I was having doubts whether to attend Screening or not (for a lot of reasons I cannot explain right now). I made Spiritual Consultations and was told to proceed.
On 22nd November, 2019, I boarded a Vehicle going to Kano from Abuja and alighted opposite the Screening Venue (Ribadu Cantonment, Old Nigerian Defence Academy Site, Kaduna). I stayed at the Entrance for a while and was observing the environs. I watched as my Fellow Candidates were moving around, some were purchasing things they would need at the venue and others hanging around. I saw Candidates wearing their White and Blue Salalas before entering the main gate; I decided I was going to wear mine inside the venue. As I passed the Soldiers at the gate, I was called back and told that if I was for the screening then I needed to wear my salala before entering. I obeyed (who was I never to anyway?).
I then took took a bike to the Quarter Guard. Here, we were being received by Military men in uniforms and muftis. My traveling bag was scrutinized for any prohibited items like sharp objects, etc. thereafter I entered my name in the paper made available for my state and then joined the others in sitting inside the sun, waiting for when our states would be attended to. Since it was 19 states that was expected for the second batch of the screening, the states were arranged alphabetically (4 states per officer for documentation). Also, Chest Numbers were issued to everyone here (This is a Semi-Apron-Like royal blue tag consisting a two-lettered abbreviation of your state of origin and number. Throughout the exercise, this chest numbers substituted our names. You would hear things like; “Zamfara 30, jump up” and so on and so forth). We were 38 out of 60 that came in my state, with a single female. Throughout the Screening, there was a high level of orderliness that was maintained. Kudos to the Board members and the Nigerian Army!
The Screening Board Members consisted of a Major-General (The President of the Board), a Brigadier-General, 2 Colonels, A Lieutenant-Colonel (who was the Board Secretary), 2 Majors, 3 Captains (one of them was the Administrative Officer) and a Lieutenant. (I can’t remember the rest members now).
We were shown to our respective hostels where we would be staying throughout the exercise (Just few days to the end of the screening, we were moved to another accommodation because of the officers that came for the Chief of Army Staff Conference). We were also fed thrice daily for the whole of the exercise.
The first stage of the screening was the evaluation of our credentials to ascertain whether the Army’s criterion was met. Here, discrepancies in result, age, or any forged documents were detected. A lot of candidates were disqualified on this basis.
The second stage was the “Almighty” Medical evaluation. The reason I call it “Almighty” is because more than half of the candidates were usually evicted at this stage for various medical conditions that are not acceptable according to the standards of the Nigerian Army.
X-RAY: The medical examinations were done in batches. For my own state, we first went to the Medical Reception Station for our X-Ray. We were made to pull our shirts, stand in front of the machine and asked to breathe. Within minutes, the film of the X-Ray was ready. This process was very fast. Some people were reviewed for this stage.
The next stage was done at the 1 Division hospital, New NDA site. Candidates were conveyed by luxurious buses and military escorts to the hospital. As we alighted from the bus, we were made to sit down in the sun according to our states and by our chest numbers. The Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of the Medicals came to address us. He asked us to stand on our feet and then as he was moving around, he wrote down the chest numbers of some candidates (Someone later said he was noting people for heights, others said it was to see the “young” old men in our midst).
