The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NYSC

  • NYSC to attach corps members’ pictures to certificates

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) said on Tuesday it would begin to issue certificates of national service with the passport photographs of corps members as a feature from October 15.

    The Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, said this in Abuja at the unveiling of the newly improved certificate of national service.

    Olawumi, who was represented by Alhaji Aliu Daura, NYSC’s Director of Certification, said that the new certificate was produced to end all forms of fraud perpetuated by users of the old certificate.

    “In our concerted effort to make the operation of the NYSC conform with global best practices, the scheme engaged in the holistic “e-nysc solution” with effect from batch ‘C’ 2014, where prospective corps members register online before proceeding to the orientation camps.

    “This resulted in the enhancement of issuance of NYSC certificates namely: Certificate of National Service, Certificate of Exemptions, and Letters of Exclusion.

    “With effect from Batch ‘C’ 2014, all certificates of national service bear passport photographs of the corps member at the upper right hand corner of the certificate.

    “This is to guarantee the security of our certificates from forgery and to block all chances of impersonation.

    “Therefore, Batch ‘C’ 2014 corps members, who are due to pass-out on Thursday, 15 October 2015, will have their certificates embossed with their photograph.

    “Employers are encouraged to forward any certificate purportedly issued by the scheme for verification of its authenticity or otherwise.

    “Effort is being made by the scheme to also make the verification of all NYSC certificates to
    be automated for easy access by the general public.“

    Olawumi said that asides the passport photograph the newly improved certificate also contained a back code with security numbers.

    He also said that the still featured the information in the old certificates except for the security features and passport photograph.

    He said that it was only the NYSC that could locate the code and security numbers on the certificate adding that the measure was adopted to further enhance the security of the certificate.

    The director general said that previous certificates issued by the scheme was still valid and could be used by the owners.

    Earlier, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, the Director of Press, NYSC, said since the inception of the scheme 42 years ago, it had experienced cases of impersonation of the certificate.

    Aderibigbe said that people often used certificates issued to other individuals to apply for jobs.

    According to her, the new certificate, which features the photograph of corps members, will put an end to such cases as nobody would be able to use an NYSC certificate issued another to perpetrate fraud.

    The director charged members of the public especially employers to ensure that they verified the NYSC certificates of prospective employees.

    She said that this was earlier done by writing to the scheme, adding that employers could now verify the certificates online.

    “You do not have to come to the headquarters just go online and verify the authenticity of the certificate. This will ensure that the people you are recruiting are the real owners of the document.

    “Those who qualify for the certificate of national service are those who participated in the youth service right from the orientation till passing out.

    “Those who qualify for the certificate of exemption are graduates who are above 30 years at the time of graduation or recipients of the National Presidential Honours Award.

    “Persons who have joined the Armed Forces, Police, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Security (DSS) are also issued certificates of exemption.

    “Letters of exclusion are issued to part-time and distance learning students and those who have not been able to pass through the normal university or polytechnic system,” Aderibigbe said.

  • NYSC members save lives in Kwara

    NYSC members save lives in Kwara

    Possibly a sign of things to come, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have put many residents of Igbonna and Ikotun communities of Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State out of their health challenges.

    How? They provided free medical service to the residents.

    A medical team of Corps members reached out to ailing members of the communities, giving their time and expertise free of charge.

    The programme is under the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers.

    In his remarks during the launch of the weeklong initiative, Oyun local government chairman, Alao Adebayo, an engineer, hailed the ingenuity of the NYSC management for organising the programme and for choosing his council.

    Adebayo urged community leaders to “mobilise our people to come and utilise this free medical offer to better and improve their health conditions reminding them that ‘health is wealth.’”

    He added that: “On our part as a government, we shall within our available resources be ready to provide everything necessary or required to make your five days and operation comfortably worthwhile.

    “The coming of this free medical initiative at a time the nation just celebrated its 55th independent anniversary is to me symbolically auspicious.

    “How else will you describe the sacrifice and commitment of this generation of you medical doctors who could engage in this social service despite other profitable offers that could be opened to them; if these attitudes of sacrifice and commitment are imbibed and sustained by our young ones, our nation will be better for it?

    “Indeed, the medical practice in its entirety by the virtue and sanctity of human life it deals with is seen as a noble profession and the practitioners considered next to God in the work of giving and saving lives.

    “Little wonder then, that this initiative which allows you to go round villages offering free medical services, readily calls to mind the biblical Jesus who was going about healing the sick and delivering the oppressed.”

    Declaring the initiative open, Director General NYSC, Brigadier- General Johnson Olawumi disclosed that the corps would collaborate with World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), federal and state ministries of health to address the health challenges of Nigerians.

    Other specific health partners the NYSC plans to partner with , he added include National Primary Health Development Agency (NPHDA), Society for Family Health (SFH), Family Health International (FHI) as well as non-governmental and international organizations.

    He added that NYSC would also partner with Royal Heritage Health Foundation, Ilorin, Grace Project International, MTN Communications and Guinness Nigeria Plc.

    General Olawumi who was represented by the state Coordinator of NYSC, Mr. Enyinnaya Henry said that the “programme is to mobilize corps medical volunteers in the provision of health intervention through diagnosis, treatment, referrals and proper prevention mechanism, thereby enhancing the general well-being of rural dwellers.

    “Volunteer corps medical personnel, who will form the core of the team, will work as health intervention agents driving the wheel of the health initiative. This one-week health outreach has been designed to address the health challenges of our people.

    “Our confidence in the success of this programme also lies in the fact that we have been able to secure the support of some stakeholders, who are either assisting us with their personnel or providing other material supports in the areas of drugs and medical equipment.”

     

  • NYSC treats 1,000 rural patients in Kogi 

    To fewer than 1,000 residents of Ozi community in Kogi Local Government Area, Kogi State have benefited from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Health Initiative For Rural Dwellers Scheme (HIRD).

    The one-week free healthcare service was initiated by the NYSC to impact positively on rural communities across the country.

    Kogi State Governor Idris Wada lauded the NYSC HIRD initiative which was designed to provide affordable and timely healthcare intervention for the large rural population of the country who lack access to basic medical care due to their distant locations from health facilities.

    Speaking at flag off of scheme, Governor Wada described the programme as novel and worthwhile as conceived by the NYSC Director General, Brigadier-General Johnson Bamidele Olawunmi.

    He said that the initiative was in tandem with his administration’s transformation agenda in taking health delivery to the  door steps of the rural dwellers in the state.

    The governor who was represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Idris Omede stated that the presence of corps members in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, would fulfill its objectives of taking healthcare service to the remote parts of the country.

    He commended the management of the scheme for its commitment to  the takeoff of the HIRD Week, assuring that the administration will continue to support it.

    Earlier in his address, the NYSC Director- General, Brigadier Johnson Bamidele Olawunmi explained that the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers which was conceived over a year ago has today become not only a reality, but also a programme that has gained national acceptance, stressing that successes recorded in the two pilot states of Kwara and Lagos were being replicated in the other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    “Against this backdrop, the goals of the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers programme is to mobilize corps medical volunteers in the provision of health intervention through diagnosis, treatment, referrals and proper prevention mechanism, thereby enhancing general well-being of rural dwellers across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria,” he stated.

    Represented by the state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Bolanle Agatha Olatunji, the DG posited that volunteer medical personnel will form the core of the team.

    The NYSC medical team attended to various cases with the people of Ozi community along Lokoja-Abuja Road.

     

  • Lover of strangled NYSC member regains freedom

    Mr Olusola Babalola, who is the lover of the 29-year old corps member strangled in Ibadan, Olusola Babalola, has regained freedom from police.

    Babalola was released Thursday evening according to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Oyo State, Mr Adekunle Ajisebutu.

    His release came after spending four nights in the police custody following the murder of Miss Abogunrin Sunday evening in Apata area of Ibadan, the state capital.

    He was arrested for being the last person to speak with the deceased on telephone before her death.

    Miss Abogunrin was raped and killed about 1,000 metres away from Babalola’s house. She was on her way to the latter when she was attacked by unknown criminals who raped and snuffed life out of her.

    The incident occurred at about 1:30 pm last Sunday.

    The love birds had slated their wedding for October 17, the day Omolola would have turned 29 years old.

  • Missing corps member found in Lagos

    Missing corps member found in Lagos

    A National Youth Corps Member, (NYSC)  Akeem Afolabi Adekunle who served in Akwa-Ibom State and was  declared missing some months ago have been found hale and hearty with his family members in Lagos.

    A team set up by  NYSC Director General , Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi to visit the family of the missing corps member and unravel the circumstances leading to his disappearance disclosed this in Abuja.

    Speaking to the newsmen after the visit to the next of kin of the corps member over the weekend, Mr. Micheal Ahile, leader of the team and Director, Corps Welfare and Inspectorate confirmed that Adekunle abandoned his place of primary assignment some three months ago in Akwa-Ibom State and has since been with his family members without reporting for service.

    He said it was discovered that the family members have been shielding the corps member while giving NYSC the impression that he was missing.

    He therefore warned that NYSC will not tolerate a situation where family members will cover up for corps members who abandoned National Service.

    He said Corps would begin to prosecute corps members who abandon their National Service .

  • 66 Rivers communities benefit from NYSC

    About 10,000 residents in 66 communities of Rivers State were beneficiaries of the three- day free medical outreach by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), for rural dwellers.

    The state Co-ordinator of the NYSC, Ngozi Nwatarali, spoke at an event to flag-off the programme on Monday.

    Held at Ozuoba community of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area(LGA), of the state, Nwatarali said the outreach tagged “Health Initiative for Dwellers(HIRD), is the brainchild of the Director-General of NYSC, Brig-Gen. J.B. Olawunmi to provide health care intervention to members of the public especially those in rural communities where health facilities are rare and access to affordable, efficient and effective health care is not.

    According to her, the programme is also part of the DG’s four point agenda to increase the visibility and capability of corps member to deliver more service delivery, thereby impacting directly on the people they serve in their midst.

    The State Co-ordinator assured the members of the state of the readiness of NYSC managers to contribute their quota in the governments’ efforts to providing prompt intervention to their health care needs, and call for stronger supports from their partners and stakeholders in terms of provision of drugs and resources needed to carry on the programme round the communities.

    “HIRD is a health initiative of NYSC DG Brig-Gen. J. B. Oluwami to provide affordable and timely health care intervention for larger populations of the country’s rural dwellers who lacks access to basic medical amenities due to their location.

    “The presence of the NYSC in all the nooks and crannies of the state will be leveraged on to achieve this. Hundreds of corps medical personnel as well as other corps volunteers have made themselves available to ensure the success of this programme in all the LGAs.

    “In the next three days of the HIRD programme in the state, a total of 66 communities will benefit from the health care service of this patriotic Corps members. At the end of programme, it is expected that over 10,000 rural dwellers would have received one firm of medical attention ot the other across the state.

    “Adequate manpower, logistics support as well as drugs have been mobilised to three communities in each LGA of the state.

    “At each location, the Corps doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, and other paramedical and corps volunteers will carry out HIV/AIDs test, eye test, malaria, hypertension, diabetes tests, counselling and treatments as the case may be and even give referrals where necessary.”

     

     

     

     

  • NYSC has achieved a lot, says DG

    NYSC has achieved a lot, says DG

    The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Gen. Johnson Olawumi, has said it has made progress remarkably in sustaining national unity.

    Launching the year’s medical outreach Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers at Igbajo in Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun State, Gen. Olawumi said NYSC remained a vibrant scheme for promoting social and cultural cohesion among ethnic groups.

    The director-general, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Community Development Service, Mrs. Adetokunbo Idowu, noted that the health initiative for rural dwellers, which was conceived over a year ago, had gained national acceptance.

    He said the success recorded in the two pilot states of Kwara and Lagos were being replicated in other states and the Federal Capital Territory.

    Gen. Olawumi said the NYSC in the last 42 years did not relent in ensuring that its mandate was pursued by impacting on people’s lives.

    According to him, the programme’s goal was to mobilise corps medical volunteers to provide health intervention through diagnosis, treatment, referrals and prevention mechanism by enhancing the well-being of rural dwellers.

  • Abuse of NYSC uniform

    SIR: A man is only called a priest when he wears the priestly garment; same is true for a lawyer – his wig identifies and defines him. Uniforms are of significance much more than we think.

    The abuse of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) uniform has sadly been on the increase. Oftentimes, I see young, out-of-school children, hawkers, drug addicts, mechanics and other categories of people putting on the NYSC uniform. If the needful is not done in good time to nip this ugly act in the bud, the love enjoyed by genuine youth corps members would grow into hatred especially, in the rural areas where the abuse of the uniform is rampant.

    It is a show of faith in a brand that a retired military officer will never contemplate, in the name of demonstration of charity, to give out his military uniform to his brother or any member of the society who has not passed through military training like it has become the norm in giving out of NYSC uniform to non-corps members by ex-corps members! In the guise of showing benevolence to the needy, ex-corps members give out their used NYSC uniform to non-corps members.

    It is absolutely necessary the governing body of the NYSC carry out a sensitization workshop to warn corps members who have a heart or who intend to demonstrate such charity to desist from it and also back up such sensitization with stringent laws to prosecute those found wanting even after the service year.

    If the military authorities can prevent civilians from putting on the military camouflage, it won’t be wrong if the NYSC scheme toes the same line.

     

    • Adebote Mayowa,

    Lagos.

  • Alleged robbery: NYSC rescues corps members in Niger

    Alleged robbery: NYSC rescues corps members in Niger

    The National Youth Service Corps Thursday night said it has intervened in the case of three corps members accused of alleged robbery by a shop owner in Suleja.
    The service said it has secured bail for two of the three corps members.
    It assured that the third corps member will soon get reprieve.
    The management, which made the clarification in a statement, asked corps members in Suleja and Niger State in general not to panic.
    It said it was working in liaison with Suleja Emirate, the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to guarantee the safety of corps members in the area.
    The statement said: “We wish to inform the general public that immediately after the arrest of the trio, the National Youth Service Corps, acting on the position of the law that an accused person is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved, promptly reached out to key stakeholders including the State Police Command and the State Government in order to ensure that the Corps members did not suffer unduly.
    “Without prejudice to the investigative duties of the appropriate law enforcement agency, we have it on good authority that preliminary findings had shown that the accusation against the trio was based only on circumstantial evidence.
    “Following the joint intervention of the NYSC Scheme and the State Government through the Office of the Secretary to the Government and the Ministry of Youth Development, two of the accused Corps members have since been released while the process of securing the release of the third is on-going.
    Management wishes to assure members of the public, particularly parents and guardians of Corps members that no single Corps member will be allowed to suffer unduly, especially over cases of mistaken identity during the service year.
    “We also wish to inform the public that the provisions of the NYSC Bye-Laws are very clear on the involvement of Corps members in criminal acts, though very unlikely, as their participation in the Scheme does not confer immunity from prosecution. We have, therefore, continued to sensitize members of the service corps on the need to be law-abiding and to shun acts capable of soiling the image of the Scheme and their families.
    “Management further wishes to allay the fears of all Corps members serving in Suleja regarding their safety. We have already intensified liaison with the Army, Police and other security agencies in the area as well as the Suleja Emirate Council who have all renewed their commitment to the protection of all Corps members in the area.
    “All Corps members in Suleja are, therefore, enjoined to go about their normal businesses without fear of molestation.”

  • NYSC may dismiss six for corrupt practices

    The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi, yesterday said about six members of the staff of the scheme facing disciplinary actions for conniving with corps members (CMs) to fraudulently abstain from the service would be sacked or dismissed from the service to serve as a deterrent to others.

    This is coming on the heels of its launch of the use of biometric to monitor corps members.

    Olawumi, who spoke at the demonstration of biometric technology for the conduct of monthly clearance of corps members in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday, failed  to reveal the identity of those involved.

    However, he said the exercise would cover all serving corps members starting from 2014 Batch ‘C’.

    He further explained that the biometric clearance would kick off in Lagos State and FCT this month, while extension would be to other states of the federation as from next year.

    [ad id=”403656″]Olawumi while allaying fear of the public and corps members on the exercise, assured them that it is going to be user friendly and not impose additional sufferings on them.

    In his remarks, the Director of Corps Welfare and Inspectorate, Mr Michael Ahile, noted that with the increasing number of corps members annually, “the task of effectively monitoring all the corps members nation-wide has remained a major challenge to the scheme.”

    He said: “With the use of biometric to monitor corps members, the NYSC would be able to effectively check cases of absenteeism, submission of monthly clearance letters by proxy, signing of community development service (CDS) attendance register by proxy and other forms of indiscipline among corps members.”

    The Executive Director of Sigma Technologies, the operator of the biometrics, Mr Hassan Alao, disclosed that the innovation would expose those who registered by proxy online.

    Alao therefore urged corps members to note of the finger used for registration during orientation camp exercise.

    According to him, at the end of the clearance, it will be loaded to the ‘cloud’ for the DG, Finance and other departments in the NYSC headquarter in Abuja to see the number of corps members cleared from each local government in the country for payment.