NMS Ex-Boys 1976 Set celebrates golden jubilee, renews call to service

Members of the Nigerian Military School (NMS) Ex-Boys 1976 Set have marked 50 years since their admission into the institution with a call on members to become custodians of the institutions and values that shaped their lives.

The members gathered at the Army Headquarters Command Officers’ Mess, Asokoro, Abuja, for the golden jubilee celebration, which featured a keynote lecture titled, “From Boys to Custodians: Leadership Lessons and Legacy”.

Delivering the lecture, former Nigerian High Commissioner to Pakistan, retired Maj.-Gen. Ashimiyu Adebayo Olaniyi, traced the journey of the 120 boys who entered the school in Zaria on Aug. 20, 1976, noting that many had gone on to become soldiers, diplomats, administrators and businessmen.

Olaniyi said leadership should ultimately evolve into custodianship, which he described as the responsibility to preserve, strengthen and pass on institutions and values in better condition than they were received.

He said the distinction between a leader and a custodian was that while a leader achieves, a custodian preserves, stressing that responsibility must come before privilege and that character, rather than achievement alone, earns lasting respect.

Olaniyi also highlighted the NMS’s contribution to national integration, citing its motto, “Discipline, Knowledge and Patriotism,” and its record of producing alumni who have served as service chiefs, ambassadors, governors, judges and business leaders. He referenced the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Adm. Abdullahi Ahmed, who described the NMS as a “unification institution” that produces “complete Nigerians”.

Earlier, the President of the 1976 Set, retired Maj.-Gen. D.D. Ahmadu, reflected on five decades of shared experiences and losses among members of the set. He urged them to honour the teachers and staff who shaped their lives, strengthen their families and extend their service to their communities.

The two addresses framed the Golden Jubilee as more than a celebration of the past, urging members of the 1976 Set and other NMS alumni to continue strengthening the institutions and values entrusted to them while embracing lifelong learning and service.