The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Corps

  • Lagos launches new environmental management policy, corps

    Lagos launches new environmental management policy, corps

    LAGOS State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday launched the much-anticipated new environmental management policy encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), expressing optimism that the development would drive the State to the desired future of achieving clean, hygienic and flood-free environment.

    Speaking at the soft launch of the CLI held at Agege Stadium, Governor Ambode said the initiative was an enduring solution carefully designed to address the shortcomings in the management of the environment, as well as accelerate seamless cleaning of the State.

    The governor, who was represented by the State’s Deputy Governor, Mrs Idiat Adebule, said since the inception of his administration, sanitation had been given priority as it was important for maintaining a secure and more prosperous State.

    He said: “To roll back sanitation shortcomings and accelerate seamless cleaning of our environment, the Lagos megacity was in dire need of an enduring solution that would match the needed technology with the massive investment required for its attainment.

    “It is this void that the CLI has come to fill by creating an environment for the private sector to harness international best practice in the vital area of solid waste management and consequently free public funds for other beneficial uses.

    “As a result, residential waste collection and processing which is concessioned to a reputable and competent multinational Waste Services Company is being given a new lease of life with 600 brand new compactors and 900,000 electronically tracked bins, while wastes generated by the commercial sector would be handled by licensed waste management operators (PSP).”

    Governor Ambode added that for efficient collection and disposal operations, the State Government has also concessioned three Transfer Loading Stations/Material Recovery Facilities at Agege, Oshodi and Simpson and three Waste Depots at Mushin, Ogudu and Simpson with the aim of rehabilitating and retrofitting the facilities to world class standard under Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (BFOT) model.

    “This is what the CLI represents as it aims to revitalize the entire solid waste management sector to have far-reaching benefits and multiplier effects for the State in particular, and the country at large. The new initiative will usher in new financially viable and technologically driven sub-sector to the Lagos economy, creating new business and job opportunities, including over 40,000 direct and indirect jobs with high poverty alleviation emphasis to serve as a model for the entire country,” the governor said.

    Earlier, Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Adejare, in his welcome address, said the soft launch of the CLI with 920 LAGESC Corps, marine waste collection and mechanized sweeping, was a dream come true in the implantation of the new environmental initiative, just as he expressed confidence that the development would translate to improved health and quality of life for residents of the State.

    He also announced that the State Government would soon role out other components of the CLI such as residential waste collection and processing, commercial, industrial, hazardous and medical waste collection, as well as secondary and tertiary drainage

  • Plight of Plateau corps members

    SIR: After graduation, graduates are mandatorily required serve to their father land under the National Youth Service Corps scheme. This is a scheme established after the civil war in other to integrate and re-integrate Nigerians. People are posted to different parts of the country to serve, interact and learn the culture and tradition of the people.

    Government on its part pays a monthly stipend for the upkeep of corps members. Although this is hardly enough considering the realities of present day Nigeria, it goes a long way to facilitate their transport fare to their places of primary assignment and sometimes feeding. Considering the fact that they are prohibited from working during the service year, their monthly stipend is thus the only means of survival. It should therefore be paid regularly and timely too.

    Corp members in Plateau State are not having the best of times. Many of them can no longer go to their places of primary assignment. The ability to get a meal in a day is left to fate or miracle to decide. Why is this so? Many of them, if not all of them, have not been paid their monthly stipend for the month of May. The month of June has gone half way already!

    The issue of late or no payment of corps members in Plateau State is a recurring decimal. For the month of April, their monthly allowance did not come on time; many of them are still being owed for that. Again, they are faced with the same situation for the month of May, who knows what will happen with June allowance? May be it would be paid in September!

    Given the fact that corps members depend of this allowance for survival, it doesn’t make sense to owe them. If you ask me, it is sheer wickedness to send people to an area where they don’t know anyone and abandon them to their fate.

    If we don’t pay corps members, we cannot get the best from them. We would also lose the moral right to reprimand corps members who abandon their places of primary assignment.

    This is a plea to NYSC to make the welfare of corps members its primary responsibility. It is wrong to owe members their monthly stipend. I doubt if any staff of the NYSC has not been paid their salary for the month of May. Corps members are frustrated. More frustrating is the fact that officials of the scheme are keeping sealed lips over this issue.

    Dear Director General of the NYSC, your children in the Plateau State are suffering and are in need of your urgent intervention.ý The federal government should ensure the timely release of funds meant for the payment of corps members.

     

    • Frank Ijege,

    frankijege@yahoo.com

  • Corps members get tips on healthy lifestyle

    Batch B Corps members serving in Rivers State have been advised to cultivate a healthy lifestyle.

      Power Oil medical team gave them the advice at their orientation camp in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. According to the team, healthy diet, moderate exercise and consumption of non-cholesterol  oil.

    The team gave free basic medical checkup such as BMI, Blood Pressure, and Body temperature, medical consultation/nutritional advice to the Corps members. It some of the firm’s products donated to the camp.

    Power Oil’s Public Relations Manager, Omotayo Azeez, said: “As the need to further reach out to more Nigerians becomes more imperative, we are more than delighted to also partner the Rivers State National Youth Service Corp by extending our reach to cover more youths, considering the alarming rate of heart health complications, which we believe sometimes could be avoidable through proper enlightenment and regular checkups, and that is what we are trying to achieve.

    “Beyond our community outreach plans, we are also working with the conviction that everyone deserves to benefit from this life impacting project irrespective of localities, which is the reason behind the extension drive into other strategic institutions such as churches, mosques, schools and NYSC Camps.”

    Brand Manager, Power Oil, Amisha Chawla said: “As part of the corporate social responsibility of Power Oil, we felt the need to offer something more to our consumers considering the costs of accessing medical check-up in the country and the low level of awareness on the need to stay healthy. Power Oil is endorsed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation.”

    NYSC Rivers State Co-ordinator,  Mr. Omotayo Adewoye expressed appreciation to Raffles Oil, makers of Power Oil, on the partnership while stressing the significant benefits of leading a healthy life. “You will agree with me that we take physical fitness and nutrition very importantly, going by our regular daily drills and healthy choice of meals that staff and Corp members are being served during the orientation weeks, under the most hygienic condition.”

    He said the product is endorsed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation,  recalling that Power Oil Health Camp has also visited Lagos State, NYSC Orientation Camp and flagged off the project in Kaduna and Oyo states through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

  • Corps members get tips on healthy lifestyle

    Corps members get tips on healthy lifestyle

    Batch B Corps members serving in Rivers State have been advised to cultivate a healthy lifestyle.

      Power Oil medical team gave them the advice at their orientation camp in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. According to the team, healthy diet, moderate exercise and consumption of non-cholesterol  oil.

    The team gave free basic medical checkup such as BMI, Blood Pressure, and Body temperature, medical consultation/nutritional advice to the Corps members. It some of the firm’s products donated to the camp.

    Power Oil’s Public Relations Manager, Omotayo Azeez, said: “As the need to further reach out to more Nigerians becomes more imperative, we are more than delighted to also partner the Rivers State National Youth Service Corp by extending our reach to cover more youths, considering the alarming rate of heart health complications, which we believe sometimes could be avoidable through proper enlightenment and regular checkups, and that is what we are trying to achieve.

    “Beyond our community outreach plans, we are also working with the conviction that everyone deserves to benefit from this life impacting project irrespective of localities, which is the reason behind the extension drive into other strategic institutions such as churches, mosques, schools and NYSC Camps.”

    Brand Manager, Power Oil, Amisha Chawla said: “As part of the corporate social responsibility of Power Oil, we felt the need to offer something more to our consumers considering the costs of accessing medical check-up in the country and the low level of awareness on the need to stay healthy. Power Oil is endorsed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation.”

    NYSC Rivers State Co-ordinator,  Mr. Omotayo Adewoye expressed appreciation to Raffles Oil, makers of Power Oil, on the partnership while stressing the significant benefits of leading a healthy life. “You will agree with me that we take physical fitness and nutrition very importantly, going by our regular daily drills and healthy choice of meals that staff and Corp members are being served during the orientation weeks, under the most hygienic condition.”

    He said the product is endorsed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation,  recalling that Power Oil Health Camp has also visited Lagos State, NYSC Orientation Camp and flagged off the project in Kaduna and Oyo states through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

  • Meningitis kills another Corps member in Sokoto

    ANOTHER Sokoto State National Youth Corps Service (NYSC) member has died, barely a month after the death of two members.

    Funmilayo Samuel, an indigene of Kabba in Kogi State, was suspected to have died of meningitis at Murtala Specialist Hospital in Sokoto, where people infected with the disease are being treated.

    A source told CAMPUSLIFE that the body of the late Corps member was immediately moved to another specialist hospital in the state capital after she died.

    Funmilayo, a Batch “A” Stream II Corps member, was serving at the Government Day Secondary School in Hamma’alli, a community in Kware Local Government Area – the same local council where the late Daniel Saanu, a Corps member died early this month.

    The late Funmilayo was expected to pass out next month, having done her final clearance. Her death brings to three corps members, who died in the state within the last two months.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Funmilayo taught Social Studies in her place of primary assignment. Her body was said to have been taken to her hometown last Thursday for burial.

    Worried by the death of their colleagues, some Corps members have sent distress message to the NYSC secretariat. It was gathered that the state NYSC coordinator, Alhaji Musa Abubakar, will be meeting Corps members this week on the matter.

    The aim, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, is to discuss how Corps members would have access to seek a robust emergency medical care, especially those serving in rural communities where killer disease is recorded.

  • Promote peace, NYSC boss tells Corps members

    Promote peace, NYSC boss tells Corps members

    The Edo State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mallam Abdullahi Yusuf, has urged executive members of Muslim Corpers’ Association of Nigeria (MCAN) to exhibit good character and serve members with dedication.

    Yusuf said the advice was necessary to build confidence of members and promote peace in their host communities.

    The NYSC boss spoke during a courtesy visit by a team of former and the recently sworn-in executive members.

    He said: “I want you to take your assignments very seriously. Members repose confidence in you, that is why they nominated you to serve them and they do not expect anything less from you. Let your attitude be worthy of emulation to all and sundry. Anytime you experience difficulty, you need to come to us for advice. We will always be willing to assist you and solve the challenges. If you lead by good example, members would emulate you and there will be peace in your host communities.”

    Yusuf warned the Corps members not to interfere in internal affairs of their host communities, urging them respect people’s culture and custom.

    The association’s Staff Adviser, Mallam Sakariya Garba,who praised the outgone executive members for their achievements, told the MCAN leaders not to deviate from the aims and objectives of the association.

    Garba assured the new executive of his support, advising them to always consult before taking decisions.

    He said: “I appreciate the immediate past executive members for their contributions and achievements, particularly for generating encouraging income for the association. I urge the new executive members to build on the progress achieved by their predecessors.”

    MCAN’s former president, Sulieman Dauda, who led the delegation, noted that the visit was to  introduce the new executive members to the state coordinator and other patrons of the association.

    The new executive is led by AbdulGaniu Raji. Other members are General Secretary, AbdulJelil Seriki; Dawah Chairman, Lukman Julius; Assistant Dawah Chairman, AbdulRahaman Muhammed; Sisters’ Affairs Secretary, Hassanat Lawal;  Welfare Officer, Maryam Sanni, and Azeezah Ayinla, Asset Maintenance Officer II.

  • Corps member revamps school’s IT facility

    A corps member, Amara Nwoke has donated four sets of desktop computers to Kuramo Junior Secondary School, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The gesture, she said, was to revamp the Information Technology facility of the school.

    The school, The Nation learnt, has been holding Computer Science classes for two years without practical sessions due to the faulty condition of their systems.

    A quiz competition to test their knowledge and identify areas of strength, was also organised among the JSS3 pupils and the winner, Emeka Ike went home with N10,000.

    Nwoke said the project was to ensure the pupils were at par with global counterparts in the digital knowledge and Information Technology, adding that early grooming would enable them learn necessary skills.

  • Corps orders 100,000 uniforms from factory 

    The massive investment made by the Cross River State government with the establishment of the Calabar Garment Factory has started yielding fruits.

    The Peace Corps of Nigeria at the weekend engaged the garment outfit to produce 100,000 pieces of uniforms for its officers and men.

    Under the terms of the contract, the factory is to produce 40,000 pieces as the first consignment, with an additional 60,000  later.

    Speaking during a facility tour of the factory and delivery of materials by the corps for the production of the uniforms, the Deputy National Commandant in charge of Administration, Mr. Edet Ekpenyong, hailed the fully automated factory and assured of the corps’ readiness to synergise with the government to ensure the factory performs within its install capacity.

    He praised Governor Ben Ayade for his industrialisation drive as well other transformation initiatives going on in the state.

    His words: “We are here to deliver our materials to the Calabar Garment Factory to begin production of 100,000 uniforms for us, but starting with 40,000 units. I am very excited and proud with what I have seen here at the factory. It is very clear that Governor Ayade is doing everything to move the state from a civil service state to an industrial hub. We have been monitoring the activities of Cross River and it has been a beehive of industrial activities since Ayade came to power. The state has never been in the media the way it has been since the coming of the present government. Honestly, I’m overwhelmed and we are very proud we will be working with the state.”

    Governor Ayade said the government would help the corps succeed, adding that 4,000 indigenes would be recruited into the Peace Corps.”

    Speaking on the development, he said the concept of the garment factory was not driven by politics, but by the obligation of the state to reconstruct its economic and financial architecture.

    Ayade said: “The state, by its geography, by its location, is supposed to be an industrial hub because it is on a coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. When we saw the state had no presence of heavy industries and businesses, considering our early contact with the white man, it became clear that notwithstanding our opportunity of early enlightenment, we needed to take advantage to create a new industry, a new workforce, a new structure that can take Cross River State out of what our history was. So it had to start with a garment factory.”

    The governor, who expressed happiness that the officials of the corps were impressed with the sample of the uniforms the factory had produced, said: “I am happy that the same thing I was fighting for while in the Senate has turned into reality. My core motion in the Senate was for the creation of the Peace Corps and with this contract for the production of their uniforms, we are going to be happy and of course, you know we have similar understanding with the Nigeria Police. But the Nigeria Peace Corps has come so fast and so sudden. I am happy that production has started.

  • FirstBank chief advises corps members to be innovative

    FirstBank chief advises corps members to be innovative

    First Bank Nigeria Limited Chairman, Chief Ibukun Awosika has challenged corps members shortlisted for the Bank of Industry (BoI) Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) not to limit their capacity to their academic degrees.

    She said the youth must  leverage on the opportunity they have to break even in various sectors and create the change desired in the country.

    Mrs Awosika, who inspired the budding entrepreneurs during the kick-off of the four-day capacity building session organised to guide their entrepreneurial voyage, said it was high time the youth shunned mediocrity and test their assumption of what is thought to be right.

    She said: “Every business idea is an assumption. The process of executing it is the experiment; what you arrive at from the experiment is your conclusion and it can be positive or negative. You have to prove your theory. Your certificate means nothing. It is the education that you have received and how you apply yourself. The way you process information, look at situation around you and decide to turn it around for good; the way you use the factors that you see to create value are the possibilities unimaginable even as you can’t see it now.

    “You have a stake for yourself in making sure that the opportunity that this facilitates changes your life for good. Don’t define your personal dream by what is going around you (but) take time to seek out what you want for your life.”

    Acting Managing Director BoI, Waheed Olagunji, said the lender looked forward to excellent results on the support provided as it had collaborated with business experts to project the bankable potentials of their various business concepts.

    According to him, 976 candidates were selected across the geopolitical zones including Lagos, Delta,  Ebonyi, Oyo Ogun, FCT, Katsina, Osun and Taraba for the second edition of the scheme.

    Olagunju said the lender had eased the challenge arising from inability of candidates to obtain information required to framing bankable businesses, dearth of technical know-how for proposed projects among others in order to deliver outstanding performances.

    He said: “Of the over 800 that went through the programme last year, more than 300 applied and about 200 benefited and they are conducting their businesses now. In other words without the Bank of Industry, what will those 300 have been doing? We have been able to engage them in a constructive manner that they have hope in themselves. They see a bright future for themselves in Nigeria through a scheme provided by Federal Government institutions.’’

  • Corps to clear roads of impediments

    To prevent gridlock within Lagos State  during the Yuletide, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) is to   remove obstructions on the highways.

    The Corps also pledged to  improve on enforcement of traffic rules, enhance traffic control and promote its relationship with the public.

    Assistant Corps Marshall Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 2 , Shehu Zaki said during his visit to the RS2.112 Iba unit that the Corps had developed an action plan on how to achieve the objectives.

    He said plans had been concluded to ensure that there will be no accidents during and after the Yuletide.

    The Acting Unit Commander, Uche Okolie, asked that a  head of operations, drivers, and patrolmen be posted to the unit. She also demanded allocation of new patrol vehicles to the command.

    Okolie said the unit had no  commissioned drivers and other manpower because of what she described as the unfriendliness within the command’s jurisdiction. She said the command has two operational patrol vehicles with one bike, adding that the patrol vehicle is almost grounded

    According to her, the staff strength of the command is 61 (18 officers and 43 marshalls) with 4 units of Special Marshalls

    Zaki  said he was on the visit  to identify the unit’s  constraints and proffer solution way forward. He said: “If I’m not here to listen to their challenges then I don’t think my coming has any purpose, basically, it is also for me to know what their constraints are, I have noted them”, he reassured.

    The Corps Marshall noted manpower was a general problem confronting the commission  but  reassured that  efforts would be accelerated to resolve their challenges

    “We will try as much as possible to even from within the zone get some personnel to the command to beef up strength of manpower in the command”, he added

    On speed limiter, the FRSC boss said the commission is in continuous sensitisation of both private and commercial vehicle owners on the implementation.

    He said: “We have been conducting rallies at motor parks, the speed limiter is one of those things we sensitise members of the public on”, adding it is a continuous process.

    He said from the beginning of the introduction of the speed limiter in the country, the commission has been publicising all the proceedings up to the time it went forscrutiny in the House of Assembly and approval given at the end of the day