Nigerian woman, Oluchukwu makes history at UK’s military academy

Officer Cadet Owowoh Princess Oluchukwu, on Friday became the first Nigerian female officer to graduate from UK’s Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (RMAS). 

According to a statement by Atinuke Akande-Alegbe, a Senior Communications and Public Diplomacy Officer at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in Abuja on Friday, the 24-year-old Oluchukwu is one of the 135 officer cadets to graduate during RMAS’ Sovereign’s Parade  in London.

The parade marked the completion of 44 weeks of intensive training for officer cadets of Commissioning Course 232. 

Since the 1950s, many Nigerian officers, including a former Nigerian president, Yakubu Gowan and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General Emmanuel Undiandeye, have become RMAS alumni.

“Oluchukwu’s graduation as the first female and 190th Nigerian graduate marks a significant milestone in UK’s long-standing commitment to supporting Nigeria’s professional military education training.

“This commitment to close the UK-Nigerian cooperation was affirmed during the recent UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership talks held in February 2024,” the statement noted.

In 2018, Oluchukwu joined the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna State, Nigeria. During her second year at the NDA, she was appointed a Cadet Lance Corporal; a Cadet Sergeant in her fourth year, and in her fifth year, she was appointed to the role of Company Senior Under Officer Charlie (CSUO C). 

She held this appointment with two other female counterparts and made history as the first female to assume the position of CSUO in the academy. 

In her fourth year, she completed the academics wing of the commissioning course and achieved first-class honours in Biological Sciences.

Speaking of her achievement, she said: “It is a profound honour to be the first Nigerian female officer to commission from the esteemed Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.”