The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Corps members

  • Amosun advises Corps members

    Amosun advises Corps members

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has urged graduates undergoing the mandatory one-year service  of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to imbibe loyalty and national unity.

    Amosun, who was represented by the Commissioner for Youths and Sport, Mr. Lanre Tejuoso, spoke at the swearing-in ceremony of the batch B of the scheme in Sagamu.

    He urged them to contribute meaningfully to the development of the state.

    He said: “Our concern is to create an enabling environment for the youths, especially the corps members to exploit their potentials with a view to advance their career and the fortune of the state” he noted.

    NYSC Ogun State Coordinator Mrs. Therasser Anosike congratulated the corps members and urged them to be good ambassadorsof their  states.

    She said 1,912 corps members registered, which consisted of 917 boys and 995 girls.

    Mrs Anosike also urged them to keep to the core value of the scheme which are perseverance, loyalty, determination, diligence, courage, integrity, discipline of mind as well as the ability to live amicably with others under any circumstances.

    “My dear corps members within the next three weeks, you will be sujected to paramilitary drills, Man-O-War training, physically fitness exercises unnamed combat and martial arts, lectures on security, culture, customs and traditions in this state,” she said.

  • NYSC redeploys corps members from Borno, six other states

    NYSC redeploys corps members from Borno, six other states

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has redeployed corps members from seven northern states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano and Yobe states.

    The action, it was learnt, was to save the lives of the corps members from the Boko Haram insurgents.

    A statement yesterday in Abuja by the NYSC management said the corps members are in the 2014 Batch ‘B’ orientation course, which will begin on August 5.

    The NYSC said because of logistic reasons, the orientation course would be conducted in two streams for various states.

    The Stream One, it said, would be conducted from August 5 to August 26 in Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Oyo, Niger, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Bayelsa and Cross River states.

    Others are: Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Imo, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Katsina, Nasarawa, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states.

    Corps members posted to states listed in the Stream One category will undergo the orientation course in their states of deployment.

    The statement said the Stream Two, which is meant for the affected Northern states, has been scheduled to take place from Monday, September 1 to Monday, September 22.

    Corps members posted to Adamawa will have their orientation programme in Niger; those posted to Bauchi are to resume in Plateau State’s orientation camp and those posted to Borno are to go to Nasarawa State’s orientation camp.

    Other affected states are: Gombe, whose corps members are to serve in Benue; Jigawa corps members are to have their orientation programme in Kaduna and corps members posted to Yobe State are to resume at the FCT orientation camp.

  • No military training for corps members, says board’s chair

    No military training for corps members, says board’s chair

    THE national board of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has ruled out a one- year military training for corps members, as being canvassed by some interest groups.

    Board Chairman Alhaji Tijani Adekanbi spoke yesterday in Minna, the Niger State capital, when he visited Acting Governor Ahmed Musa Ibeto at the Government House.

    He said the board’s decision was taken after wide consultations.

    Adekanbi said the scheme could not give military training to corps members because there would be nowhere in the Armed Forces to post the corps members to after the training.

    He said: “If we give them one year military training, we have to absorb them into any of the services.

    “If they are allowed to be on their own after the training, it will be dangerous for the country.”

    The board chairman also said the NYSC would fine-tune the Community Development (CD) service to ensure that “overambitious projects with huge financial demands are not embarked upon by corps members”.

    Adekanbi admitted that CD projects had assisted in the development of communities.

    He said such finetuning would require that projects were scrutinised by the NYSC secretariat before supporting them.

    The board chairman advised employers of labour to be more vigilant and assist the scheme to check the activities of operators of fake NYSC camps and fake NYSC certificates.

    According to him, the scheme would ensure that its discharged certificates were not forged.

    Adekanbi urged employers to always crosscheck the validity of the NYSC certificates tendered by the workers before employing them.

    He also maintained that influential Nigerians, who tried to make their children evade the mandatory one-year service, were subjecting them to risk in the future because such children would not be eligible for employment or to contest election without the discharge certificate.

    Ibeto said the NYSC scheme had assisted the state in the implementation of its education and health programmes through the provision of qualified manpower.

    He also said the scheme had made Nigerians to know every part of the country. The acting governor added that the scheme had made youths to know the true situation on the ground in the states.

  • ’Corps members can’t write application’

    The Kano State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Sanusi Abdulrasheed, yesterday said over 89 per cent of corps members can’t write or speak good English.

    Abdulrasheed, who regretted that the corps members preferred communicating in Pidgin English, reminded graduates that the era of white collar jobs was over in Nigeria.

    The state coordinator spoke yesterday in Kano at the passing-out parade of corps members.

    He said the NYSC discovered this after a nationwide research.

    “I have been asked to remind you, and I don’t want you to feel insulted, but it is a statement of fact that the management throughout the federation made an observation that the bulk of corps members were not communicating effectively in English language.

    “Following the nationwide research by NYSC’s management, it was established that 89 per cent of them cannot write good application.”

    According to him, the research indicated that “majority of you start writing application with their name, for example, ‘I, Sanusi Abdulrasheed, hereby…’”

    He added: “You should know that the point of communicating to the world is through an application. And when you start on a bad note, those who appreciate the use of language would discover that such a person lacks communication skill and such an application would end up in the dustbin.”

    The NYSC coordinator urged the corps members to buy primary and secondary textbooks, if necessary, to learn how to communicate in English. You will learn and study numerous ways of writing a good application.”

    However, the coordinator advised them not to waste time searching for white collar jobs.

    He said insecurity had reduced in the state.

    ‘’Let us thank Allah for the way He has been using our government, both the state and the Federal Government in confronting security challenges in Kano. I assure any new corps members not to be afraid in serving in the state. Though only God can guarantee adequate protection of life and property, we have done the little we can.

    Abdulrasheed said some corps members would repeat their service year for one offence or the other.

  • Police confirm abduction of corps members in Rivers

    The Rivers Police Command on Saturday in Port Harcourt confirmed the abduction of three members of the National Youth Service Corps serving with Abua/Odual local government council of the state.

    Mrs. Angela Agabe, the command’s Public Relations Officer, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that two male and one female youth corps members were abducted.

    She said they were seized by armed men in the early hours of Saturday.

    Agabe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the motive behind the kidnapping was however still unknown.

    The police PRO said the command’s anti-kidnapping unit, had since commenced a search for the missing corps members.

    “Reports received by the command indicate that the corps members went to Ogomokon jetty, near the council headquarters, where three armed men abducted them early on Saturday.

    “So far, no group has claimed responsibility and no ransom has been demanded. The police had commenced investigation into the incident.

    “As we speak, our anti-kidnapping unit is on top of the situation. The unit had already commenced work to free the corps members,’’ she said.

     

  • 30 Corps members get automatic jobs in Edo

    30 Corps members get automatic jobs in Edo

    EDO State Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomhole yesterday announced the offer of automatic employment to 30 corps members who distinguished themselves during their service in the state.

    The occassion was the passing out ceremony of the 2012 Batch ‘B’ members of the corps in the state.

    The governor also promised to pay N25,000 each to corps members who served in the state’s public schools.

    He said those to be employed would be deployed to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

    Oshiomhole said he was impressed by the community development projects embarked upon by the corps members.

    These, the governor said, include the construction of an abattoir with drainage, renovation of two blocks of 16 toilets at Igueben Market, the construction of a library with six long tables and 36 chairs at St. John Bosco’s College, Ubiaja.

    Others are free skill acquisition training for some students, as well as provision of free legal service to indigent residents.

    Oshiomhole said the jobs were offered the outstanding corps members in appreciation of their contributions to the development of the state and the nation.

    He said: “Having worked so hard, I am happy that the NYSC recognises that beyond sermonising, one of the things we can do to encourage outstanding performance is to publicly acknowledge those who have distinguished themselves.

    “Moments ago, I had the honour of presenting certificates of merit as well as small cash gifts to those of your colleagues who performed in an outstanding manner. In addition to these certificates of merit and cash, I am so impressed by the narrative of the State Coordinator that the Edo State Government should go beyond the cash and certificates.

    “Therefore, I will like to offer to those of you, who wish to accept, that those who benefitted from this merit award, that we will offer them automatic employment in our public service. We will also ensure that the terms are competitive such that you will want to stay and settle in Edo.

    “In addition to that, you are aware that in Edo State we have the Edo Youth Employment Scheme (Edo YES) and we have a robust ICT unit where we are training graduates and even non-graduates, including those with knowledge of computer science.

    “We want to offer, through your Coordinator, 26 openings. I invite you to nominate 26, comprising 13 men and 13 women. We will offer them employment, in addition to the four. We will ask them to join our ICT team. We will give them job training; we will give them the requisite training and exposure and they will be able to add value to the development of our great state

    “As leaders, we must, by our actions, demonstrate that we are all one and the same. It is the elite who are bereft of ideas, who play up ethnic, regional and other primordial sentiments. We in Edo State have gone beyond those. The task we have is to make everyone, who lives in this state, feel at home.”

  • 2,300 corps members posted to Kano

    Two thousand three hundred corps members have been posted to Kano State for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

    The NYSC state coordinator, Alhaji Bashir Salisu Yakasai, who said this at the swearing in of the 2013 Batch A corps members orientation course, added that the figure is impressive despite the security challenges.

    Yakasai said the three weeks orientation would build the corps members towards achieving the aims of the scheme, which is to foster unity, encourage self reliance and improve human development in their domains.

    He appealed to the corps members to respect the culture of the land and support NYSC activities in their places of primary assignment to promote unity irrespective of religion, culture or social background.

    Kano State Government has assured that it would create a peaceful atmosphere for the corps members to boost the economy in the public and private sectors.

    Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, represented by his deputy, Dr. Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, said this when he declared open the three weeks orientation course at the NYSC orientation camp, Kussalla Dan karaye.

    Ganduje said the society is facing development challenges ranging from youth unemployment to growing crime rate and depreciation in the living condition.

  • Corps members’ cultural day

    Serving Corps members in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have held a cultural day at the orientation camp in Kubwa, Abuja to celebrate the country’s cultures. GERALD NWOKOCHA writes.

    The parade ground of the Abuja orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was draped in beautiful decors. Various canopies and tents were erected on the field. The Corps members abandoned their official khaki uniform for cultural attires.

    During the cultural parade, every member strove to ensure that his dressing depicted the part of the country he comes from.

    Mr Philip Ukoh, who represented the NYSC Director General, Brig Gen Nnamdi Okorie-Affia, praised Corps members for their large turnout.

    The 09 bikers, a club of power bikers in Abuja, entertained the participants with different stunts on their bikes. The leader of the club, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charley Boy, advised the Corps members on safety. Corps members were educated on how to use helmets, amour guards, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves.

    The camp officials and the state coordinator, Mr Frank Ekpunobi, marched round the parade ground from one tent to another to salute each platoon of Corps members. Each group was allowed to make a presentation.

    Other contests organised on the day included dance and meal competition.

    The Man O’ Wars cadets were not left out in the display. They matched round the field, with their bags strapped to their backs as though they were marching to a war front. The cadets lifted bags of rice with their teeth.

    In military fashion, soldiers deployed to the camp also performed various stunts. They held the audience spellbound when they started using their hands to break plastered bricks and bottles. They also used their teeth to lift blocks as they danced round the field.

    NYSC officials participated in the dance contest, which featured Osita Osadebe’s songs. Ekpunobi won the overall best dancer but all the staff members that participated in the dancing received gifts from the Nigerian Breweries Plc.

    Each platoon presented its traditional dance steps. Members of Platoon 10, who won the cultural display, came out with cultural attires that reflected the dress senses of all the tribes in Nigeria. They also showed the mode of greetings of the tribes.

    Members of the Orientation Broadcasting Service (OBS) presented a chorography. Also some Corps members in the HIV/AIDS Community Development Service held awareness on how to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

    There was a drama presentation by Platoon 3 members. The play titled Life after camp focused on the kind of life most Corps members live after the orientation exercise. It was observed that some Corps members posted to Abuja facilitated their postings without having any relatives in the Federal Capital Territory. After the orientation exercise, they would be stranded, a situation that always force female among them to seek shelter in strangers’ house. Some of them embrace prostitution to eke out living. The drama also showed the repercussion of the actions.

    A Corps member, Princewill Agbara, told CAMPUSLIFE that he hoped the drama would change the thinking of desperate youths wanting to serve in Abuja.

    The highpoint of the ceremony, which lasted till the evening, was the camp-fire night. Corps members danced round the fire in jubilation.

    At the end of the occasion, the platoons that won prizes were called up for recognition. Ekpunobi said the cultural day was the best so far. “I can see some boys among you even dressed like ladies, whom nobody noticed till after the occasion. May God bless you throughout your service year and let this joy and happiness I see today never stop in your lives,” he charged.