The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NYSC

  • Gov. Bello commends corps members’ participation in election

    Niger State Governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello has commended all youth corps members across the country that participated in the last general elections.

    Bello gave the commendation at the swearing-in of batch ‘A’ National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, at the Paikoro Orientation campground.

    Bello, who was represented by the state commissioner for Water Resources, Maman Musa Bosso told the corps members, ” your non-partisanship in the electoral process contributed to the successes recorded in the elections.”

    The governor also assured the youth corps members of adequate security throughout their one year stay in places of their primary assignment.

    Read Also: Bello lauds military support to internal security

    ” We pride ourselves as being the most peaceful state enjoying relative peace and security in the country.”

    Bello reiterated the commitment of his administration to partner the State NYSC management, and the security agencies to ensure safety and improve welfare as all times.

    Earlier, the state Co-Ordinator of the NYSC, Mrs. Funmilayo Ajayi said a total of 2000 corps members were posted to Niger state, out of which, 1997 have already registered.

    She urged the state governor to ensure the completion of the permanent Orientation camp, Again noted, ” the completion of the NYSC Orientation camp is an issue of great concern to NYSC.”

  • Ambode lauds NYSC for election role as 2,568 corps members swear oath

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has praised the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for its roles in the success of the general elections.

    Ambode said this on Friday at the Swearing-In of 2019 Batch A corps members at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos where he was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Dr Yusuf Jimoh.

    “May I on this note specially commend the National Youth Service Corps for its invaluable role and contributions to the just concluded elections.

    “The success of the 2019 elections has further proven that the scheme is indeed an enduring legacy of its founding fathers.

    “Our political trajectory becomes more definite with the NYSC as an instrument for sustaining our democracy,” he said.

    Lagos State NYSC Coordinator, Prince Mohammed Momoh, said a total of 2,658 corps members (954 male and 1,614 females) took the oath of allegiance administered by the Chief Justice of Lagos, Justice Opeyemi Oke, represented by Justice Olabisi Akinlade of the Lagos High Court at the ceremony.

    He urged them to take the programmes of the three week orientation camp seriously, especially the entrepreneurship trainig programme aimed at preparing them for self- employment.

    “The Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme has been specially designed to salvage the deepening threat of unemployment in our country.

    “I therefore encourage you to go the extra mile to participate in the programme in order to derive the maximum benefits and position yourself as an entrepreneur ready to take the many business opportunities out there. Remember the race for excellence has no finish line,” he said.

  • 1, 600 Batch ‘A’ 2018 Corps members pass out in Kogi

    THE National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC ), in Kogi State, has said  1, 600 Batch ‘ A’ 2018 corps members have successfully passed out of the scheme; with none of them having extension in service year.  In addition, two corps members got state award for outstanding performance in their personal community development service projects (PCSP) during their service year, NYSC added.

    The two corps members who won the state award are: Dr Alabi Boluwaji Vincent with state code number KG/ 18A/0445, and Seun Albert Oyelude with state code number KG/18A/007.

    State NYSC Co-ordinator, Mrs. Oludolapo Ahile, described the set as ‘unique’ with outstanding CDS initiated projects. He praised them for their active participation in national assignment which ended recently.

    Oludolapo urged the outgoing corps members to remain focused on becoming self-reliant and selfsustaining, asking them to put into practice all the skills and entrepreneurship training they had acquired during their one year national service.

    He said: “In this one year, you have understood the meaning of mobility of labour. In this sense, you are free to remain behind after the service year as a result of discovery of greener pasture.”

    Oludolapo expressed her appreciation to Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello for the support during the service year. He said the success of the service year was on account of peaceful and secured environment, and improved camp facility, courtesy of the government.

    Read also: Mass failure in General Studies at Sokoto Varsity

    As part of activities to mark the end of their service year, the corps members organised a ‘Corpers week’ an event, which featured visitation to the prison, sanitation exercise, visit to the motherless home in Lokoja where the corps members identified with them and distribution of gifts to them.

    The climax of the end of service year week was the dinner and award night, which held at Glass House, Government House, Lokoja.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Bello pledged to support the corps members with 1,500 benches to ease their discomfort at Muslim Community Secondary School, Lokongoma, Lokoja where their CDS meeting always hold.

    The governor, who was represented by his Chief of Staff Edward David Onoja, enjoined the corps members not to give up on Nigeria, stressing that he believes in the present administration’s commitment to youth development.

    Bello pointed out that the future of Nigeria lies in youths’ hands, therefore, they must avoid discrimination along religious and tribal lines.

  • Gunmen attack journalist, abduct wife, three others in Nasarawa

    Gunmen on Wednesday attacked Suleiman Abubakar, Chairman of Correspondents’ chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Nasarawa state and abducted his wife, Yahanasu Abubakar.

    Suleiman told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident happened at about 7 p.m. along Gudi-Garaku road in Akwanga Local Government Area of the state.

    According to Suleiman, the gunmen shot at the union bus they were travelling in from Keffi, where his wife went to register at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp.

    Read also: ‘No plan to amend Constitution to keep Buhari beyond 2023’

    He said the bus ran into a ditch after being shot at while the gunmen swooped on them, took his wife, the wife of a former state assembly member, who they gave a lift as well as two other women from another vehicle during the attack.

    Meanwhile, ASP Samaila Usman, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, said the command had mobilised officers to the area to search and rescue the abducted women. (NAN)

  • Police launch manhunt for killers of NYSC members in Bayelsa

    The Police in Bayelsa have launched a manhunt for the killers of two National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in the state.

    Suspected cultists on Wednesday night attacked the residence of corps members along School Road in Yenagoa, killing two and injuring another critically.

    In a statement on Thursday the Command’s Spokesman, DSP Asinim Butswat, reiterated the commitment of Police to fighting crime and all forms of criminality in the state.

    He said “on March 20, 2019, at about 2200hours, armed robbers numbering about seven, attacked the residence of one Jerry Yeseme Moses, Proprietor of a school at Swalli, Yenagoa.

    READ ALSO: Anambra: INEC to replace NYSC members in conflict areas

    “The armed robbers instantly shot and killed one corps member, Oluwatobi Popoola, male, 30 years; they also shot one George Onokpoma, male and Anthony Dada.

    “The victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Center, Yenagoa, where George Onokpoma was confirmed dead, while Anthony Dada is responding to treatment.

    “The command has launched a manhunt for the unknown gunmen, and investigation is ongoing.’’

    Butswat also disclosed that two masked gunmen operating on a motorcycle kidnapped an eight-year-old girl in their home in Yenagoa, at about 8.10 p.m. on Monday.

    He, however, said that the girl, Dora, daughter of one 40-year-old Amara Diekedie, had been safely rescued.

    He said that when the command’s control room was alerted, it responded swiftly, pursuing the kidnappers and gunned down one of them.

    “The victim was rescued safely and two locally-fabricated AK47 rifle were recovered, while a suspect was arrested,” the spokesman said.

  • Buhari’s trust in God gave him victory, says ex-NYSC DG

    Ex-director general of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Col Peter Obasa (retired) Thursday attributed President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the recently concluded election to his reliance on God and his belief in his mission.

    The retired army officer added that “no doubts, he has won God’s favour. He battled through the turbulent period of the early years of his presidency, a period during which most Nigerians wrote him off.”

    Col Obasa made a passionate appeal to President Buhari to pay his gratuity and pension, 35 years after he was compulsorily retired by the military.

    The 81-year old retired military spoke with reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

    The former NYSC boss, who served between 1979 and 1984, said that he had received no letter of dismissal from the Army to have informed nonpayment of his entitlement.

    “I make my appeal to Mr. President, in the name of Almighty God, in the names of all that are holy, in the names of all that are good, true, and are just, to give me justice of the type that will attract the approval of God”, he said.

    The octogenarian, who presented a book, titled, House of Exile, during the press conference, chronicled his experiences in 1984, his prison accounts, the nation’s democracy, and judiciary.

    “The Federal Republic of Nigeria official gazette, No 56 of November 6, 1986, under Ministry of Defence, Nigerian Army officers, voluntary/compulsory and dismissal page 1340 declares that I was compulsorily retired from the army. Under that condition, I should be entitled to my gratuity and pension. The Army has denied me both.

    “They claim that I was dismissed. If that was the case, a letter to that effect would have been served on me, and the army would have withdrawn my officer’s sword, ceremonial dress, mess jacket and service suit. I received no letter, and am still in possession of the items mentioned above.

    “Like President Buhari, I am favoured by God. I fought through the tumultuous and terrifying period of my trial and more than seven years in incarceration, and I am here by the special grace of God to ask for true justice. The world wrote me off, some claiming that I would not exit the jail house. How wrong they are. God Almighty fights for the innocent”, he said.

    Retired Colonel Obasa described his trial by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), headed by General Muhammadu Buhari, as illegalities of 1984, saying that the SMC promulgated decrees that had retroactive effect.

    He said: “The laws were backdated by three years. This is immoral and illegal. The God of creation made laws which he handed over to Moses. Those laws became effective from the time they were read to the Israelites.

    “The SMC took over the roles of the executive, legislative and judiciary, the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge. This is illegal. The Nigerian Bar Association condemned this and prohibited its members from appearing before the tribunals to defend accused persons.

    “The process of trial was gravely flawed. Trials were in secret. The public was denied access to the tribunals and it was only when judgements were passed that the world became informed of the verdict.

    “All statements from suspects were extracted under duress. This is illegal

    “Accused persons were compelled long before trial began to sign away the contents of their accounts under duress by the same characters that came to testify at the tribunal that the accused willingly signed away everything. This is illegal.

    “Falsified documents (as exhibits) were brought into the tribunal by the Special Investigation Panel. This too is illegal.

    “Accused people were incarcerated in solitary confinement, denied access to their family and prevented from reaching anything that would enhance their defence. This is illegal.

    “They made it impossible for accused persons to explain clearly how they came about what they had. Everything went under the label of “kickback”. This is illegal.

    “False witnesses were press-ganged to testify against accused persons. This is illegal.

    “From the beginning to the end in my case, the truth was undermined and justice was perverted. This too is illegal”.

  • NYSC DG hails corps members on election duties

    Director General, National Youth Service Corps, Suleiman Kazaure and management of the organisation have hailed corps members who participated as ad hoc personnel for the independent national electoral commission in last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections nationwide.

    The NYSC saluted the corps members for the courage, high level of discipline, patriotism and neutrality they showed in the conduct of the elections.

    The organisation in a statement by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Adenike Adeyemi, on Monday in Abuja, urged the corps members to display the same qualities in the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections slated for 9th March.

    The statement reads: “Management joins the rest of the nation in saluting your courage, high level of discipline, patriotism and neutrality in the conduct of this historic national assignment. In particular, the resilience you all demonstrated in the face of the initial challenges encountered in matters of welfare in several states has heightened the nation’s confidence in you as an emerging generation of Nigeria leaders.

    “While commending you once more, it is our ardent hope that you will go into the next phase of the electoral duties, i.e. the Governorship and State Assembly elections on 9th March, 2019, with similar zeal, patriotism, and high sense of responsibility.

    “We pray for God’s continued protection upon you as you prepare for the coming phase.

    “Management further wishes to assure all corps members of our commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to promptly address all matters relating to your security and general welfare throughout and after this election season.

    “In this regard, management calls on the Independent National Electoral Commission to, as a matter of urgency, settle all outstanding training allowances and other entitlements of the corps members who participated in the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, and to avoid delay in the settlement of their allowances for the next phase of the elections.

    “We also use this medium to appeal to INEC and security agencies to continue to evolve strategies for the protection of all corps members throughout this election period and thereafter.”

  • Presiding officer, corps member abducted in Anambra

    Anambra State Police Command yesterday announced the abduction of a presiding officer and a youth corps memberby unknown persons during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

    As a result, seven suspects have been arrested by the command, including two armed police personnel on illegal duty during the elections.

    Briefing reporters yesterday evening in Awka, Anambra State, the new Police Commissioner for the state, RabiuLadodo, said the cases were under investigation.

    According to him, “I have gone round the state along with heads of other security agencies both on Aerial and vehicular patrols, in order to assess levels of deployment by the security agencies at various polling units and to ensure that the electorates exercise their franchise without hindrance”

    “The election is generally peaceful and all the places visited have witnessed significant turnout of voters amid tight security in the areas.”

    “However, despite the relative peace recorded so far, there are few isolated incidents recorded; such as ballot box snatching at OnumaImeobi Square ward six unit 4 Onitsha, vote buying, disruption of election in some polling units, alleged abduction of a presiding officer and a youth corps member in Indiokolo unit, Orumba North LGA of Anambra South Senatorial Zone”

    “Consequently, the Command has arrested Seven (7) suspects in connection with vote buying and disruption of electoral Process. The Command equally arrested two (2) armed Police mobile personnel on illegal duty. All cases are under investigation at the State CIID, Awka and effort is being intensified to rescue the abducted persons and bring perpetrators to justice,” he said.

    Read Also: EFCC operatives at INEC collation centre in Lagos

    He said exhibits recovered from the suspects included, one mini shuttle bus, two motorcycles, sum of one hundred and ten thousand, nine hundred and twenty naira (N110,920),two handbags containing dry leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and two knives.

    “The public are equally advised to report any incident or suspected persons through the Police emergency numbers availed to the public for prompt response, please,”the new CP said.

  • You’ll go to jail if you break electoral laws – DG warns Corps members

    The Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maj. Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, has warned corps members participating as INEC ad-hoc staff in the general election that they would be jailed if they break any electoral law in the course of their assignment.

    Kazaure gave the warning Thursday in Yola while addressing corps members trained to participate in the exercise.

    Represented by Mr Sadiq Ipaku, Chief Inspector of NYSC, Abuja, Kazaure said it was mandatory for corps members to know the Electoral Act and discharge their assignment in line with the law, and the training provided to avoid falling into trouble.

    Kazaure said over the years, corps members have distinguished themselves during elections and should continue to do so.

    “Your predecessors, right from year 2008 when the collaboration started, have proven their mettle and made each succeeding election more credible and acceptable than the proceeding one.

    “It is against this background that the nation is once again calling on you for this very important assignment,” Kazaure said.

    In his remarks, the Adamawa Coordinator of NYSC, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed tasked the corps members to be confident and take full responsibility during the assignment so as not to be messed up by any politician.

    Mohammed tasked also tasked them to be security conscious, adding that there was an agreement with INEC not to post corps member to crisis areas.

    He also said that special numbers would be provided them to make quick contact in the case of any difficulty or emergency.

    In his speech, the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Kassim Gaidam, who described corps members as “the core of INEC ad-hoc staff”, said the commission has confidence full confidence in their ability to deliver.

    Gaidam assured them of adequate security and welfare, adding that their training allowances would be paid on Friday, while other allowances would be paid as at when due.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that highlights of the interactive session was the distribution of relevant pamphlets on election guidelines, and lecture on security tips by officials from Department of State Security.

  • NYSC: Group commends Buhari over Ibrahim’s appointment as DG

    President Muhammdu Buhari has been hailed over his appointment of Brig. Gen  S Ibrahim as the new  Director General of National Youth Service corps, NYSC.
    Recall that Major General SZ Kazaure was last week posted from National Youth Service Corps to Nigerian Army Resource Centre
    The New Initiative for Credible Leadership, while welcoming the appointment of Ibrahim, said the choice of Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim by Mr. President is in recognition of his sterling qualities as displayed as the pioneer Registrar of the Nigerian Army University, Biu, Borno State.
    Samson Onwu, Executive Director of NICreL, at a press conference on Saturday, said the appointment of Ibrahim is a rounded peg in a rounded hole.
    His statement below.
    NICrel wishes to state that it has followed the carrier path of Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim from his days as the Research Officer, Institute of Army Education (IAE); Military Assistant to the Director General of NYSC 1996-1999; Staff Officer Military History, National Defence College (NDC) 2004 – 2009; Senior Instructor, Nigerian Army School of Education 2009 – 2011; Staff Officer I Books Resources Procurement, Headquarters Nigerian Army Education Corps 2011 – 2012; Commandant Command Secondary School Suleja 2012-2014; Head of Department, History and War Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy Nigerian Defence Academy 2014-2018.
    NICrel consequently states that the choice of Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim as the director general of the National Youth Service Corps is indeed a testament to the resolve by President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the NYSC for higher productivity and improving the lot of Youth Corps members in the country.
    NICrel wishes to commend the Nigerian Army for the numerous training it avails its officers as exemplified in Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim, who throughout his career in the military has distinguished himself as a shining star by coasting home numerous awards that include: Forces Service Star (FSS), Meritorious Service Star (MSS) and Distinguished Service Star (DSS).
    Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim has on numerous occasions rewarded for his exceptional performance in vital national assignments such as, The Chief of Army Staff Award as the Overall Best Participant for 2013 NAEC Executive Management Course; Nigerian Institute for Public Relation (NIPR) Special Recognition Award 2014; Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Services/Fellowship (FCAI) by Institute of Corporate Administration; Professional National Award of the Historical Society of Nigeria HSN 2018 and COAS Commendation Letter 2018.
    NICrel also wishes to commend the Chief of Army Staff for recommending a thorough breed professional officer as well as an intellectual to President Muhammadu Buhari as the Director General of the NYSC.
    NICrel also wishes to charge Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim to put to bear all the training he received in the Nigerian Army, as well as his exploits and experience in the academics and administration as a Ph.D. holder and former Head of Department, History and War Studies of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
    NICrel commends the Nigerian Army for its consistency in making its personnel available for service to the country. NICrel also charges Brig. Gen. S. Ibrahim to justify his appointment by bringing about institutional reforms in the NYSC and making his primary constituency the Nigerian Army proud of his stewardship.