The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Corps

  • Corps members float online marketing hub

    Two National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have launched Goods2Go Hub, an online marketing service. Joshua Ojo and Obinna Isiwekpeni, graduates of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), are serving in Akwa Ibom and Abia states.

    According to them, they were inspired by the need to help resolve the difficulties faced by Corps members in sellig items used during their service year.

    Joshua said: “The National Youth Service lasts for a year and graduates of higher institutions are posted to places they have never been. They settle down and buy household items to make themselves comfortable during the service year. As service rounds off, Corps members face the challenge of selling the items they bought.

    “Some even give out the items freely and regret doing so, because they do not have the appropriate platform to sell the items. We came up with Goods2Go to enable incoming and outgoing Corps members exchange and sell items. The platform gives sellers and buyers value for their money.”

    Obinna added: “Goods2Go Hub will help promote business ideas among the outgoing, active, and prospective Corp members using the platform. It will help them display their items and services to Corps members across the nation.”

  • Navy, corps member take medical rhapsody to Bayelsa community, IDPs

    Gwegwe community and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camping at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, were recently given a reason to smile.

    The Central Naval Command (CNC) of the Nigerian Navy and a corps member, Dr. IniAbasi Bassey, who discharges her primary assignment at the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), visited them at separate occasions with lots of care and love.

    While the Navy headed for Gwegwe, the corps member went to the IDP’s camp. In fact the residents of Gwegwe in Ovom, Yenagoa, were surprised at the medical mission of the navy.

    The Flag Officer Commanding CNC, Rear Admiral Mohammed Garba, personally led the medical mission to the community. To show the importance he attached to the health of his host, Garba brought most of the senior officers in his command including the Chief of Staff of the command, Rear Admiral Akinjide Akinrinade to the community.

    Residents felt honoured by the presence of Garba, whose achievements within a short period he took over the command in an era of militancy, resounded in their ears. The navy brought cartons of drugs and mobilised qualified doctors to the community to identify and treat common sicknesses.

    The Paramount Ruler of Ovom, HRH Mathias Obele was excited at the gesture of the navy. He immediately sent words round Gwegwe community asking the residents to turn out en masse to benefit from military generosity. Obele also invited members of his council of Chiefs to receive Garba and his team.

    Within a short time, Garba arrived and headed straight for the humble palace of the Ijaw king. The Chiefs and their king were happy to behold Obele identifying with them. The Naval boss told them that the programme was borne out of the desire of the military to tackle health problems plaguing its host communities.

    He said the CNC has been visiting communities within its Area of Responsibility (AoR) for medical missions. He named some of the communities that had benefited from the gesture and said the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) was in support of the programme.

    He said through the programme, the navy gets closer to and establishes links with the people for effective resolution of common security problems. He said the programme was part of strategic directive to work with local communities and stakeholders to achieve government’s collective mandate.

    Garba had another message for them. He said: “Nigeria belongs to Nigerians. We are part and parcel of the society. We are all Nigerians and Nigeria belongs to Nigerians. We must make sure we protect this country.

    “This is one of the ways to reduce tension by reaching out to people. It is easy to solve problem when you reach out to people.”

    Garba later told residents who gathered to benefit from the medical outreach that the military especially the Navy cared for the people of the region. He appealed to them not to view every naval personnel as hostile and bloodthirsty describing the Navy as caring and humane.

    Indeed, the Ijaw king and his council of chiefs were elated. Obele, playing the Oliver Twist, also asked the navy to consider employing some of the indigenes of Ovom. He reminded the navy that one of their bases, NNS SOROH, is located within the community.

    For the IDPs, the intervention of the youth corps member, Dr. Bassey was a big relief. Their condition was pathetic as they suffered various ailments without money to buy required drugs. The IDPs were mostly victims of the violence that marred the last governorship election in the state.

    So, when they saw Bassey with cartons of drugs and mosquito nets, they leaped up in joy. They sang, danced and described the young lady as God-sent. Bassey said she was moved by pity after she visited the camp and saw the terrible living condition of the IDPs.

    She said: “When I was told there are IDPs here, I went to visit them. The children were malnourished and the general standard of living there was very poor. So, I was moved to help them by doing something about their health because health is wealth.”

    “It is my personal community development service. I donated some drugs and relief items to them. You can see that the people came out in their numbers and we had a health talk.

    “I donated drugs for malaria treatment because of the pandemic nature of malaria. I gave them analgesic, antibiotics and supplements. In fact, I have given them lots of drugs. I gave them over 100 mosquito-treated nets”.

    The corps member, who hails from Akwa Ibom State said she solicited funds from people to undertake the project. She said with more assistance she would do more to help in solving some problems in the state.

    Bassey said she was already working on another community development service following some pressing needs she identified in one of the community schools in Yenagoa.

    In fact, most of the IDPs thanked the corps member for her intervention describing her as a problem solver.

     

     

  • Corps member wins essay contest

    Corps member wins essay contest

    A YOUTH Corps member serving in Gombe State, Stephen Angulu,  has won this year’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) essay competition, organised by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) penultimate Thursday in Lagos.

    He beat five others to pick the prize which included a laptop. The others were Joshua Tamunosiki, who came second; Ogagaoghene Eruteya, third; Jonathan Achile, fourth; andApeiker Iorsoo, fifth. Toyin Moyosore came sixth.

    Ironically, Angulu spoke first on the contest’s theme: Recycling leadership: an antithetical approach to your development and Nigeria’s future.

    He set the tone for the day, which other contestants either followed or harped on.

    He said youths, who constituted a greater percentage of the nation’s population, were vital to national development, claiming that the elders had failed.

    Angulu said what the nation had experienced was the recycling of leaders, saying that this was an abuse of a normal process that should have boosted growth. He listed the disadvantages of recycling as non-continuity, indispensability and inability to hand over to a successor.

    He said: “We recycle leaders and bring a gap between youths and leaders, adding that as a result, youths are not given a chance to contribute to nation building.”

    Angulu, who cited various Biblical verses to buttress his point, said youths who fear God, should be given a chance to participate in governance as they would do better than those who do not.

    Other contestants, who harped on the usefulness of youths to national growth, also did justice to the theme. But Angulu took the shine off them, especially as they kept referring to his submission. The panelists might have noted this.

    The Chairman, Pastor Charles Iko-Abasi, advised the youth to sharpen their skills and prepare themselves for leadership positions that they clamoured for.

  • Corps member gives free eye surgery to 30 people

    Succour came the way of 30 indigent people suffering various eye ailments in Minna, the Niger State capital, when a National Youth Service Corps member Dr. Uwaeze Oke Ikesinachi sponsored a free eye surgical intervention for the patients.

    The free eye surgery tagged “You can see again” was flagged off at the General Hospital, Minna, as a personal community development service by the corps member who is an optometrist.

    Ikesinachi noted that the free eye surgery was borne out of his desire to use his professional skill to come to the aid the downtrodden.

    “I am an eye specialist and in that regard I know the basic need of my patients. I know what it means for a patient to be blind and I feel their pains and that is the basic motivation behind everything I do.

    “If you take a look at the patients here, you would see that some of the blindness can be treated but most of them are penniless and helpless. Some others are languishing in ignorance as they don’t even know they can get remedy for their ailments and that is why I have decided to use my skill to be of help to them,” he addedý

    The doctor who maintained that the exercise cost him a fortune, added that he was collaborating with eye surgeons and consultants to execute the project.

    He said the beneficiaries, who were drawn from across the state, ýwill be treated for eye infections ranging from cataract and pterygium among others.

    He added that a blind 10 year-old who had been suffering fromý congenital cataract could now see after he was operated on earlier.

    One of the beneficiaries, Malam Mohammed Malik, who can only see with one eye, says he has been battling with the problem since 2004 and hopes to make use of both eyes again after surgery.

  • Corps members offer prisoners legal aid

    Corps members offer prisoners legal aid

    Members of the Legal Aid Community Development Service (CDS) group of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos have visited Ikoyi Prison to provide free legal services to inmates awaiting trial. TEMITAYO AYETOTO (NYSC Lagos) reports.

    Access to legal services does not come cheap for the poor. As they struggle to meet essential needs such as food, clothes and shelter, access to legal assistance is a luxury. For the poor, staying out of trouble appears to be the best.

    Lack of confidence in the legal system and low awareness, a 2014 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report said, are part of the factors responsible for the inability of the poor to access legal aid.

    Against this backdrop, some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Lagos embarked on provision of free legal aid to the vulnerable.

    The Corps members, who are in Legal Aid Community Development Service (CDS), said their action was in line with the objectives of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council.

    Last week, the Corps members visited Ikoyi Prison to render free legal assistance to some inmates, who are awaiting trials. More than 30 Corps members, who are lawyers, were at the prison to scrutinise the inmates’ case files.

    They took up cases of about 150 inmates standing trials for offences, including stealing, smoking of Indian hemp, burglary, armed robbery and murder. The inmates were assured that their cases would be hastened up in the court.

    The gesture, according to the Corp members, was informed by the need to stop abuse of people rights and to restore confidence in the legal system.

    The CDS’ Corps Liaison Officer (CLO), Janet Gbam, said the services were particularly targeted at decongesting the prison, noting that certain offences could be handled within the police station, before subjecting the accused persons to detention in maximum prisons.

    Janet said the pro-bono legal service was a pragmatic tool for bringing succour to the defenceless, noting that the Corps members’efforts led to the discharge of no fewer than 50 accused persons in Lagos prisons.

    Janet said: “As lawyers, we should not be prodded to help the vulnerable because of money. We need to act to re-organise our society and make the legal system just. I believe NYS offers veritable platform to carry out this objective.

    “There are a lot of people, who are taken to court without legal representation. Some of them cannot pay expensive legal fees. This is why we take up such cases and offer to help. It is our way of giving back to the society. After taking up the cases, we go to court to ascertain the ones without lawyers. We then represent them. Through this, we have freed more than 50 inmates in Ikoyi and Kirikiri Prison.”

    The Corps members urged law enforcement agents to stop complicating court processes, noting that continued detention of accused persons without trial contravened their rights.

    She added: “We need to enlighten our law enforcement agents. There are some trivial offences that can be handled without taking the accused person to the maximum prisons. It is not everything that should end in prison. We have mediation and arbitration process that can be used in resolving disputes without resulting into legal action.”

    The Corp members also donated materials, including food, to the inmates.

    The Assistant CLO, Steven Azubike, said: “The essence of donating materials to the inmate is to make them comfortable. I think the spirit is high among us and we will continue with this gesture, because it is part of our duties to contribute our quota to the development of our country.”

    Chief Superintendent of Ikoyi Prison, Sunday Akpan, hailed the Corps members’gesture, saying it would help to decongest the prison.

    He said: “Many organisations have been concentrating their aids on getting awaiting trial inmates out of the prison. But, we have others facilities in the prison that require support too. We have schools, where we trained the inmates in various craftworks to make them useful whenever they are released back to the society. Members of the public can also partner the Prison Service on these programmes.”

  • Clark joins anti-corruption corps

    Hurray, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, unfazed presidential godfather under Goodluck Jonathan, just joined the Buhari Anti-Corruption Corps!  But his starting ranks are yet unknown!

    Speaking at the announcement of the academic year for the new Law programme of the Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo, Delta State (ECUK), Pa Clerk serenaded President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-sleaze war, saying it was the panacea for Nigeria’s greatness.

    “This country will have to be cleaned up, and I’m happy we have a president, despite every other thing, who has now stood up to fight corruption. We should support him,” he counselled. “I know this country will progress, if corruption is reduced to the minimum.”

    Really, those were words of wisdom, well and truly spoken by an elder.  Nothing to add. Nothing to subtract.

    There is a query, though — and that query is simple.  Where was this fount of wisdom, when Godson, Goodluck Jonathan, was president; and Pa Clark never tired of bragging — sorry, crowing — that Jonathan was his “son”?

    Where was that spring of wisdom when President Jonathan was making a vacuous distinction between stealing and corruption?

    Where was it when about everyone, except the un-abashed presidential godfather and the innermost Jonathan presidential circle, was saying the former president’s body language cuddled corruption like some newly found, long lost lover?

    Where, indeed, is Pa Clark’s voice when the so-called Niger Delta Avengers were busy corrupting the otherwise legitimate struggles of their people, by resorting to brainless vandalism of key economic assets — wilful arson that not only compromise the integrity of their cause but further pollute their environment, destroy marine life and extinguish many a legitimate livelihood in the poisoned creeks?

    But perhaps Pa Clark was playing the politics of anti-corruption-speak, powered by the politics of rememberance — or forgetfulness!

    “If corruption reduces to the minimum and this country is restructured, we’ll have a better Nigeria.”. Well framed!

    “I’m not looking for a Nigeria where some people are first-class and others are second-class.  If you make some people second-class, they will fight their way through and there’ll be no peace in this country.”

    That is no subtle threat.  Whether by Freudian slip or outright declaration, Pa Clark appears voicing his support for the creek vandals, somewhat imbuing their criminality with some nobility in a classic case of double-speak.

    But what if the so-called freedom fighting, ala Avengers, is some wilful and criminal subterfuge to frustrate the due comeuppance for the mind-boggling sleaze under godson Jonathan?  If that were so, would the latest to be enlisted on the Buhari Anti-Corruption Corps be said to be a true member, or was just playing at some verbal flurry, full of empty gas?

    Besides, when for the Niger Delta, did restructuring become such a consuming article of faith: before or after Jonathan lost power?

    Pa Clark must know: it is either he is for, or against the anti-corruption war.  Straddling, by speaking from both sides of the mouth, wouldn’t do. You don’t serenade those fighting sleaze and, in the same breath, romanticise the criminality they are facing down.

    Besides, who knows? If Pa Clark had been forthright with Jonathan on the corruption issue, playing the role of a loving dad, perhaps Jonathan would still be president?

    Well, all that is history now. What is not history is that Pa Clark should be courageous enough to walk his talk.  He has not demonstrated that with this pussy-footing, in his so-called self-enlistment as an anti-corruption ambassador. Pity!

  • Man arraigned for duping corps member

    A man, David Emmanuel, has been arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital, for allegedly duping a corps member, Idowu Temitope, of N750,000.

    The suspect reportedly collected N120,000 from Temitope to help him get a job at the Department For International Development (DFID).

    It was gathered that the corps member also paid Emmanuel N630,000 to buy him two cars from two federal agencies.

    The Prosecution Counsel, Tolu Abisagbo, said the accused should not be granted bail because other suspects are still at large.

    He added that the presence of the accused would be helpful in further investigation.

    But the defence lawyer, Rotiji Emmanuel, prayed the court to grant his client bail on the grounds that he is presumed innocent, until proven contrary.

    The Presiding Magistrate, Sola Adedapo, ordered the suspect to be remanded in police custody till tomorrow, when the matter comes up for hearing.

  • Ikpeazu urges Corps members to learn skills

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has warmly welcomed the latest batch of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to be posted to the state, urging them to avail themselves of the opportunities to acquire entrepreneurial skills.

    He was speaking during the inauguration of the Batch B, Stream 2 Corps members in the state.

    The event took place at the NYSC Camp, Umunna in Bende Local Government Area of the state, where Ikpeazu said the era when government employed every graduate has gone. He advised them to aim at being employers of labour instead of job seekers.

    The governor said, “I urge you to explore the numerous opportunities that abound in the state and actualise your dreams by focusing on all the positive things that are in the camp which will come handy during your service year.

    “I advise you to do away with all negative ideas about Abia State and Igbo in general and make good use of this great opportunity your deployment to the state will offer, as our people are kind-hearted.”

    He praised the managers of the NYSC scheme for enriching and diversifying it to meet the challenges of nation building through several innovative ventures like the skill acquisition and entrepreneurial development programme.

    Ikpeazu said, “I am aware that the new scheme is geared towards making young graduates job creators and employers of labour instead of job seekers through which they could take the unemployed youths off our streets.”

    The Director General (DG) of NYSC, General Johnson Olawumi warned against indiscipline, which he said will not be tolerated.

    He told the Corps members, “You are advised to read the orientation guide given to you for better understanding.”

  • ‘500,000 Corps members trained in skills’

    The Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi has said that over 500,000 members of the scheme have been trained under the Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development programme since its inception in 2012.

    Gen Olawumi stated this at a three-day Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund Capacity Building programme held at the NYSC Orientation permanent site in Umunna, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.

    The DG, who was represented by the coordinator of the scheme in the state Mr Omotayo Adewoye, said that the intention of the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund is in line with the overall mandate of NYSC Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development programme.

    He said that the programme is centred on equipping corps members with the basic entrepreneurship skill to make them self reliant and employers of labour at the end of their service year instead of job seekers.

    General Olawumi said that the scheme would continue to improve on training, supervision and mentoring of corps members in order to reduce the penchant and clamour for non-existing white collar jobs.

    In a speech, the Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Mr Raheed Olaoluwa represented by Mr Afolani Adegoke, explained that at the end of the training, participants would be required to submit their loan applications to the bank along with business plans.

    Olaoluwa noted that the loan to each beneficiary would be a maximum of N2m which would be administered at a single digit interest of nine per cent.

    In his welcome address, the Assistant Director, Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development of the NYSC Mrs Njide Moughalu explained that the programme was geared towards assisting Corps members in acquiring skills necessary for successful entrepreneurship.

     

  • Corps members dazzle at cultural carnival

    Corps members dazzle at cultural carnival

    The Batch B members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State have made quite a splash. Dressed up in various cultural attires depicting the tribal spread of the country, they impressed their audience with dance steps as well as effort to remind everyone that there is strength in diversity.

    A member of the House of Representatives, Hon Sam Onuigbo who represents Ikwuano/Umuahia organised the cultural carnival.

    The event took place at the Umunna Camp in Bende council where they Corps members received the lawmaker who has been of much help to them.

    Platoon Four, the Fulani group, came first, winning N50,000 for their effort. Platoon Five representing Ibibio, took second, winning N30,000. Platoon Eight which represented the Benin, won N20,000 while N10,000 went to each of the seven platoons at the event.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Onuigbo made a case for culture, saying that a people without it are lost.

    He said, “When the culture of the people is sustained there will be unity as it could lead to several uniting factors like marriages and everlasting friendships, and when such exists, there will be no need for war and bickering among us.”

    He urged the corps members who were participating to compete with zest and free mind so as to have a healthy competition, stressing that the cultural competition will help them to promote peace, unity and oneness, “So that the unity of the country will continue to grow”.

    The federal lawmaker noted that NYSC has contributed in no small way to the unity of the country, “As most of the electoral workers during general elections have been mostly corps members and they have also been involved in the teaching of the children in their primary

    assignments and heath care delivery, among others”.

    Onuigbo reminded them on the need to take seriously the skill acquisition which they are being taught at the orientation camp, stressing that the era when government provide jobs for graduates is fast fading away, as time has come for the youths of the country to move from being job seekers to employers of labour.

    He said that NYSC scheme is one which he is passionate about since he did his own during 1983/84 session in Kaduna state, “It was a great experience which shall remain indelible in my life and mind as I still reminiscence of them every day of my life”.

    In his welcome speech the state coordinator of Abia NYSC, Omotayo Adewoye called on well spirited people in the state to emulate Onuigbo who he said has never relented in offering help to corps members posted to the state for many years by coming to the help of the scheme.

    Adewoye recalled that Onuigbo has been sending vehicles to carry corps members posted to his village Obuohia Obi-Ibere in Ikwuano local government area of the state from the NYSC camp at Umunna and feeds them for a week until they are properly settled in their places of primary assignment.

    Onuigbo also sends off departing Corps members with all manner of gifts.

    The Abia State NYSC coordinator appealed to Onuigbo and others like him to come to their aid in the maintenance of camp facilities, saying that government alone cannot bear the burden.