The National Service Authority (NSA) has announced that tertiary graduates preparing to undertake national service will undergo intensive military training, including basic combat drills and weapons handling.

According to the Authority, the initiative, which will involve about 10,000 national service personnel, is designed to instill discipline, patriotism, and resilience among young graduates as part of a broader effort to strengthen national service values.

Speaking on the new directive, the Acting Executive Director of the NSA, Ruth Dela Seddoh, said the programme forms part of a renewed approach to reorient service personnel toward national responsibility and civic discipline.

She explained that the trainees will be divided into two batches of 5,000 each and stationed at various military bases across the country to ensure they experience “real military conditions,” rather than a relaxed training model held on university or college campuses.

“Initially, we were contemplating that we were going to run the entire 10,000 cohorts at the same time. But we don’t have enough military bases, so we considered extending it to schools or teacher training institutions. The military resisted,” she said.

“They want them to have a proper feel of what it takes to go through military training. So they advised that we divide it into two, 5,000 each, and subject them to proper military training.”

Ms. Seddoh clarified that while the training will cover basic combat and disaster response techniques, it will also introduce personnel to safe weapons handling, self-defense, and crisis management.

“Including handling of weapons, yes — because we are saying that disaster management and all of that are part of it,” she said.

“Typically, if you find yourself in an area where there are armed robbers, what do you do? You need to be trained to handle such situations safely.”

She added that the overall goal of the exercise is to build character, discipline, and leadership among young graduates.

“At the end of the day, the end goal is discipline. We want to instill in them a sense of discipline,” she said.

“It will be a bit extreme, but I can assure them that as a woman, I’ll make sure it’s also exciting.”