The director superintending over the NYSC operations in the South-West geopolitical zone, Mrs. Olubukola Oluwaremilekun Abiodun, has asserted that the course content for the orientation of corps members was designed to make them blessings to the society and the nation at large.
The director made the assertion on Monday while addressing 2024 Batch ‘B’ (Stream 1) corps members deployed to Ondo State.
Speaking at the Multipurpose Hall of the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Ikare-Akoko, Abiodun said that corps members must obey the rules and regulations of the scheme so that when they got to the larger society, they would be able to contribute meaningfully to the overall development of the country.
The erstwhile NYSC state coordinator in Edo State warned the members of the service corps against reckless travelling, insisting that they needed to stay put in the state of deployment and remain focused so that at the end, they would have left legacies that the society will be proud of.
She said that the scheme wanted them alive for the task of nation-building and desist from gallivanting about.
Abiodun declared that the scheme would continue to prioritise their welfare and security but insisted that corps members were the chief security of themselves.
She admonished members of the service corps to respect people of their host communities, as, according to her, they would receive measure of respect they accorded other people.
The director enjoined them to preach unity and togetherness, while at the same time, urging them to embrace relationships that would strengthen love and respect for one another.
She disclosed that NYSC purposely brought them together from different geopolitical zones and backgrounds so that they could speak with one voice when they were given position of leadership and authority in the foreseeable future, urging them to abhor anything that would cause division among them.
She appealed to the corps members to embrace the programme which would make them employers of labour and financially protected, starting with the service year.
She warned corps members, especially those that would be posted to educational institutions, not to beat any student or pupil, insisting that their mandate was to teach and not to inflict bodily pain on recalcitrant students.
She advised that erring students should be reported to the school authority for appropriate punishment.
Abiodun reiterated that the management would not condone any reckless usage of social media to discredit the scheme, just as she admonished them to channel their grievances or observations to principal camp officials or through their Local Government Inspectors as the case might be.
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Speaking earlier, the State Coordinator, Mr. Sam Amaramiro Pepple, enumerated the measures put in place to combat cholera outbreak, disclosing that washing hand basins and liquid soap were placed in all hostels and strategic places within the camp, aside the information banners made to educate and sensitise the entire camp community about the consequences of not adhering strictly to the safety measures given by National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and Federal Ministry of Health.
The state coordinator who told the visiting director that the Mikano generator supplying power to the camp broke down unexpectedly, which made some officials release their personal generators to service corps members’ hostels at nights and early mornings for six days, hinted that his administration spent close to N2 million to refurbish the 18 years old generator.
Pepple, who appreciated the corps members and officials for the understanding while the problem lasted, further disclosed that he purchased and installed a dual-role pumping machine, using solar and electricity to supply water to the camp community, a feat that attracted an applause from corps members who agreed that they had enough water in the camp.
The visiting director commended the state coordinator and his team for maintaining a high degree of discipline, which was evident in the compartment of the corps members throughout the period of the visit.
