The Federal Government has announced plans to establish a dedicated institution for training doctors, nurses and other health specialists exclusively for the Nigerian military, with the pioneer set of cadets expected to gain admission in the 2026 academic session.
Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, made this known on Friday in Abuja during the inauguration of a Technical Working Group tasked with fast-tracking the establishment of the Armed Forces College of Medicine and Health Sciences. The announcement was contained in a statement from the minister’s media adviser, Ikharo Attah.
According to the statement, the planned institution is meant to free the military from its long-term reliance on civilian universities for medical training by building a pipeline of health professionals trained specifically for military service.
Calling the move a strategic investment in both national security and human capital, Alausa said the formation of the working group marked the government’s shift from approving the policy to actually executing it. He argued that the armed forces can no longer be left without a reliable system for training the medical staff they need, and should not have to compete with the rest of the country for a limited pool of newly graduated doctors.
The minister said military personnel require health workers trained with an understanding of the specific demands of combat and military operations, both during and after deployment.
He noted that the new college fits into the government’s wider push to expand medical education nationally. Admissions into medicine and dentistry programmes, he said, have grown from roughly 5,000 to over 10,400 under the current administration, with a goal of reaching 20,000 within two years through accrediting more medical colleges. Nursing admissions, meanwhile, have jumped from about 28,000 to nearly 120,000 annually, exceeding earlier targets.
While praising the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria for upholding standards that have given Nigerian nurses international recognition, Alausa maintained that the military’s healthcare needs still justify a specialised college of its own. He stressed that the new school isn’t meant to rival regular universities, but to help the armed forces become self-reliant in producing the health workers it needs — with every proposed programme judged by whether the military actually requires it.
He directed the working group to prioritise fields like occupational therapy and speech therapy, which support the recovery of personnel injured in combat.
The committee — drawing members from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence, National Universities Commission, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Nigerian Defence Academy and other bodies — will design the curriculum, blend academic and military training, oversee accreditation, coordinate senior academic appointments, and work with JAMB to ensure classes can begin in 2026. Alausa said he has already spoken with JAMB’s registrar about listing the college on the admissions portal, and has asked the NUC to speed up verification and accreditation.
Giving further details, Major General Idris Babatunde Solebo — Director General of the Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Programme and chair of the working group — said the college is being modelled on the Uniformed Services University in the United States. Cadets, he explained, will receive combined academic and military instruction throughout their studies, gaining skills in battlefield medicine and Tactical Combat Casualty Care, among other specialised areas.
Solebo added that the school will be sited at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna, where current facilities can support a quick start. He disclosed that the armed forces currently face a shortage of roughly 93 per cent in medical personnel, underscoring the urgency of setting up the institution.
Alausa thanked the Minister of Defence and Minister of State for Defence for backing the plan and said he expects the working group to finish its preparations in time to admit the first cohort of military medical cadets in 2026.
The proposed college is part of the Tinubu administration’s broader effort to expand medical training and tackle Nigeria’s healthcare workforce shortage, alongside the recent growth in medicine, dentistry and nursing admissions nationwide. Once operational, it is expected to produce doctors, nurses and allied health workers trained for the military’s emergency, operational and rehabilitation needs, while reinforcing the country’s overall defence health system.
