HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Armed Forces Command and Staff College is a Joint Service institution established to produce operational-level military officers of the highest professional standard as well as to ensure standardization of Staff Duties in the Nigerian Armed Forces. The College was established on 29 May 76 as Army Command and Staff College, with assistance from the British Army Advisory Team (BAAT).
The first Senior Officers' Course (SOC 1), which lasted for 6 months, was conducted from May 1976. A second course (SOC 2), ran from January to June, 1977. The Students of SOC 1 were all Army officers while SOC 2 had 2 naval officers. On 12 Sep 77, the Army Command and Staff Course (ACSC) comprising 62 Nigerian Army officers, 2 Nigerian Navy officers 2 Nigerian Air Force officers and 2 Army Officers

from Guyana were assembled to run the first full course for about one year. Further expansion of the College was made on 24 Apr 78 when the Army Junior Division was established to conduct its first course for selected officers of the rank of Captain from the Nigerian Army.

As a result of a decision to establish the Air Faculty for the training of Nigerian Air Force officers at Jaji, a Royal Air Force Advisory Team was invited to join their Army counterparts. Thus, on 1 Sept 78, the Army Command and Staff College was re-designated Command and Staff College (CSC) to reflect the anticipated tri-service nature of the College. Two Navy officers and 20 Air Force officers joined their Army counterparts for the first Command and Staff Course (CSC 1). The Junior Division of the Air Faculty followed quickly and was officially established on 26 Feb 79, at the Air Force Base Kaduna. It fully moved to Jaji in August 1986.

The Naval Faculty came on stream on 1 Sep 81 and 13 students of the faculty attended CSC 4, as the Navy’s first course in Jaji. The Junior Division of the Naval Faculty was established in Jaji in August 1984, thereby giving the College a complete tri-service outlook. The College was to be fully Nigerianised in 1985 when the BAAT left for United Kingdom. But as a result of the need to develop expertise in Joint Warfare, 5 British officers were invited to advise on the formation of Joint Warfare Division, thereby forming the establishment known as the Joint Warfare Advisory Team (JWAT). This division was fully functional in 1988 and with the departure of the JWAT in October the same year, the College became completely Nigerianised. A military exchange programme between the Nigerian Armed Forces and their Ghanaian counterparts, brought the participation of officers of the Ghana Armed Forces as Directing Staff in the College.

The College has since continued to meet the objectives of developing the knowledge and understanding of selected officers of the 3 Services of the Nigerian Armed Forces as a means of preparing them for increasing responsibilities both on the staff and in command.