THE House of Representatives on Thursday called for an increased number of female combatant cadets, just as it urged the Armed Forces Council and the Federal Ministry of Defence to halt the plan to stop the admission of Combatant Female Cadets into the Nigerian Defence Academy.
The House then mandated the committees on Defence, Army, Navy and Airforce to investigate the matter and report back in four weeks for further legislative action.
The House resolution followed a motion sponsored by Honourable Omosede Igbinedion, entitled, “call to halt the proposed plan to stop the admission of combatant female cadets into the Nigerian Defence Academy”.
The lawmaker noted that ” affirmative action means positive steps be taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education and all such other areas from which they have historically be excluded”.
In 2011, she said, “the Nigerian Defence Academy admitted the first set of 20 female cadets into the Regular Combatant Commission which will afford the cadets the opportunity to aspire to head any of the Armed Services in the future”
She added that “institutions are usually established to promote the provisions of the constitution and not to breach them as the move to end the admission of female cadets seems to suggest”.