The federal government says it has advanced plans to establish the Armed Forces College of Medicine and Health Sciences (AFCOM&HS) to strengthen military healthcare services.

This is contained in a statement on Saturday in Abuja by Folasade Boriowo, the spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Education.

Ms Boriowo said the initiative would also address manpower shortages within the armed forces and expand Nigeria’s overall medical training capacity.

She said the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this development at a high-level meeting with Defence Minister Christopher Musa and other stakeholders.

In attendance at the meeting were the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad and the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

Mr Alausa said the proposed college aligned with the federal government’s reform agenda, particularly efforts to strengthen science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical sciences education.

He said the college would provide a structured, sustainable pipeline of military-trained doctors, surgeons, trauma specialists, emergency response medics, and allied health professionals.

According to him, Nigeria faces a growing shortage of medical professionals amid a population of over 240 million people.

He said the country has a deficit of about 340,000 doctors, stressing the need for scalable and innovative training models.

Mr Alausa said the ministry had doubled annual medical school admissions from about 5,000 to nearly 10,000 and that projections were underway to increase the figure to about 19,000 annually in the coming years.

The minister said the new college would form a critical component of the expansion strategy.

He said that, in compliance with the federal government’s seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new tertiary institutions, the Nigerian Defence Academy would establish the college within its existing framework.

According to him, the institution will be located in Lagos State and linked to accredited federal and military hospitals for clinical training.

Mr Alausa said training would be anchored at designated military medical facilities, including the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital and the 661 Nigerian Air Force Hospital in Lagos.

He said medical cadets would undergo an eight-year programme comprising six years of academic training, one year of military training and one year of housemanship.

The minister said the graduates would be equipped with medical expertise, discipline, leadership skills and operational readiness for military service.

He added that a Technical Working Group comprising representatives of the Ministries of Education and Defence, the Nigerian Defence Academy and relevant professional and regulatory bodies has been constituted to ensure regulatory compliance and quality assurance.

Mr Alausa said the objective is to ensure that admissions commence by October or November 2026.

He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to working with its defence and regulatory partners to deliver the initiative in compliance with extant national standards and global best practices.

(NAN)