Obasanjo, Shagaya, others inaugurate alumni association

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Minister of Internal Affairs John Shagaya and other former students of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) London, held the inaugural dinner of the Nigerian chapter of the alumni association of the college.

Obasanjo, who attended the college in 1974 and functions currently as the patron of the Nigerian chapter of the alumni association, said at the dinner in Abuja, that after a long period of Nigerians attending the college, the Nigerian graduates registered their chapter of the alumni association this year.

The Royal College of Defense Studies was established in 1927 and it offers postgraduate level international strategic courses mostly on security issues. Seventy Nigerians have studied at the college since 1960, when the first Nigerians, Messrs LOV Anionwu and SO Wey of the Nigerian Colonial Service attended.

Obasanjo, whose speech was delivered at the inaugural dinner of the RCDS Alumni Association by Major General Paul Omu (rtd), a 1982 attendee of the college, spoke of the need to harness the resources of the RCDS alumni to achieve a safer and more prosperous Nigeria.

Senator John Shagaya, a 1990 attendee and chairman of the Nigerian chapter of the alumni association, similarly said the RCDS alumni still had a lot to offer and Nigeria would do well to avail itself of their wealth of knowledge and experience.

Some of the other famous former students of the Royal College of Defence Studies are Generals Dimkat Bali (1980), Muhammed Gusau (1984), Senator Jonah Jang (1989), and Admiral Ola Sa`ad Ibrahim (2002).