In a bid to enhance the knowledge base and expertise of Nigerian military, security, and intelligence personnel, the Defence Intelligence College (DIC) has partnered with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) to provide specialised postgraduate programmes.

This partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the management of UNN and DIC at the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) headquarters in Abuja. The UNN team was led by Vice Chancellor, Prof. Charles Igwe, accompanied by Registrar, Dr. (Mrs.) Celine Nebedum; Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Ike Onyishi; and Coordinator, UNN-DIC Collaboration, Prof. Freedom Onuoha.

Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Undiandeye endorsed the partnership but emphasised the need for modalities to align with Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and Defence Headquarters (DHQ) stipulations. He also stressed the importance of developing professional courses and grading schemes for the programme.

Earlier, the Commandant of DIC, Rear Admiral Julius Nwagu, explained that the College trains the nation’s secret and intelligence services personnel, including military, paramilitary, security, and critical civilian agencies.

Nwagu highlighted the rationale behind collaborating with UNN, which is to deliver knowledge to low and medium-level staff of these agencies, enhancing their competence and capacity. He disclosed that the DIC is already collaborating with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), among others.

The Commandant underscored the importance of sustainability and ensuring the programme does not disrupt existing DIC courses and lectures. He said:  “The issue of sustainability is of utmost importance. Furthermore, the program will not disrupt the existing courses and lectures within the DIC. We will benefit from the pool of intellectuals participating in the programme, who can also be utilised to enhance our organic programmes.”

Nwagu lauded the high standard of the UNN while noting that the DIC is also aiming at collaborating with the University in  Research and Development (R&D). He commended the University Team for coming, stating that both parties will work towards advancing the relationship.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Charles Igwe, expressed gratitude for the invitation and underlined the significance of the partnership between the University and the defence institution. He noted that UNN was the first indigenous University in Nigeria and the first to award an indigenous degree. He noted that the University pioneered the General Studies programme, now a standard in every other university in Nigeria.

Igwe stated, “Universities are established to proffer solutions to some of the problems or challenges of the nation, and the proposed collaboration between DIC and UNN contributes to this regard.” He added that UNN has one of the best faculties of Social Sciences in Nigeria and will establish the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Nuclear Engineering in the next session.

Speaking further, he assured that UNN is known for maintaining quality and high standards. He commended the DIC for the partnership and promised that the University of Nigeria is committed to maintaining quality and standard in the programme.

Also, the Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences, UNN, Prof. Ike Onyishi, explained that following the signing of the MoU, DIC, in affiliation with the Faculty of Social Sciences, UNN will commence with the agreed postgraduate programmes. These programmes include Cartography, Remote Sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability), International Relations and Diplomacy, Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies, Human Security and Counter-Terrorism, and Soft Protocol and Diplomacy (Department of Political Science), Social Policy (Institute of Social Policy), and Criminology, Conflict and Change (Department of Sociology/Anthropology).

Additionally, he disclosed that new courses are being developed in collaboration with relevant departments and authorities at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, including Political and Economic Intelligence (Department of Political Science)  Criminal Psychology and Forensic Studies (Department of Psychology), and  Strategic Intelligence and Security Management (Department of Public Administration). All the postgraduate programmes are expected to take off in the coming weeks

According to the Coordinator of UNN-DIC Collaboration, Prof. Freedom Onuoha, these proposed courses will be developed to meet the contemporary needs of the intelligence community in Nigeria. He said that a Committee has been set up by the Faculty to develop the new postgraduate programmes for approval by the University Senate.

Onuoha further explained that the collaboration aims to deepen engagement in knowledge production and capacity building in specialised courses, contributing to efforts at addressing security challenges requiring intelligence input. “The goal is to leverage the unique strengths of both institutions to produce a critical mass of human resources with robust intelligence backgrounds, capable of responding to current and evolving challenges to national security and defence,” he said.

Other senior staff of the DIC and DIA, including the Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Air Vice Marshal Sunday Chinda, were also present at the signing.