The director in charge of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, in Southwest geopolitical zone, Mr. Oluwole Julius Amusan, has described corps members as the joy and pride of the nation who should be mindful of their call to nation-building.
The director made the remark while speaking to 2023 Batch ‘B’ (Stream II) corps members at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State.
Amusan appealed to the members of the service corps not to engage in frivolous journeys or travel in the night, saying the highways were not safe.
“My dear corps members, research and statistics have shown that corps members who travel in the night and those without official permission accounted for the larger percentage of corps members who met their untimely death in the course of national service. We are not against your travelling but caution must be taken against unwarranted and frivolous journeys.
“The nation that has invested so much in you and your parents who have laboured are constantly praying and earnestly waiting for that period when they will eat the fruits of their labour and it saddens the heart when the unexpected happens as a result of unwarranted journeys. It is our joy to give you your Certificate of National Service at the end of the service year and see you return home safely to your parents and loved ones,” he said.
The one time state coordinator in Akwa Ibom State asserted that the time of national service was a period of transition from dependence to independence and charged them to leverage on the opportunity the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, programme that the scheme offered.
“NYSC has always been pragmatic in her approach to matters that concern the graduate youths and this is the reason why the scheme is continuously churning out programmes that will make the corps members have a sense of responsibility during and after the service year. The mischief makers turned the acronym: NYSC into something else, and the management in their ingenuity established the SAED eleven years ago to make corps members employers of labour rather than employment seekers.”
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Amusan advised the corps members to see life from positive perspectives so that leadership training they are exposed to in camp would be handy for them when the time comes to navigate the challenges of life.
He encouraged them to initiate and sustain lasting relationships with one another, praying that the future will be better.
Let no one tolerate but celebrate you. The Federal Government through the National Youth Service Corps knows that you are potent leaders that can pull this country together as the most productive strata of the society.
“The nation will continue to celebrate your great exploits that will turn around the fortunes of this great country,” he declared.
Briefing the visiting director earlier, the State Coordinator, Mrs. Victoria Nnenna Ani, disclosed that the corps members and indeed the entire camp community had been looking forward to hosting him.
Ani, while giving update reports on the programme and activities since the commencement of the orientation course stated that the corps members had cooperated and shown understanding with the management in resolving all the observations raised, which was meant to make the camp exciting and enjoyable.
Mrs. Ani charged the corps members to learn from the administrator.
