By Iduozee Paul, Benin
The Edo State coordinator of the National Youths Service Crops Scheme (NYSC), Mrs. Abiodun Olubukola has called for non-scraping of the scheme, stressing that, the scheme has helped to unite the country and brought more development to the nation.
The coordinator made the statements at the 2021, Batch A/ Stream ll, Orientation programme to mark the 48th Anniversary Celebration of the scheme at Okada, in Ovia North East Local Government Area in Benin City.
Mrs. Olubukola also thanked Governor Godwin Obaseki for building a new NYSC camp for the youth corpers.
“Today, we are witnessing another landmark in NYSC. We celebrate NYSC at 48, culture and our tribe. The aim is to promote unity. NYSC since inception has been a unifying factor plan for this country.
“There is nowhere in the 774 local government areas in Nigeria that you will not find corps members. You know, as parents, you would not want anything to happen to your children. Where ever these corps members are, even if people have grievances, they still do their work.
“We don’t want anything to happen to the corps members thereby, making the NYSC members to do what they feel they ought to they have done to build a community. Everybody has seen what happened during Covid-19.”
“Some Corps members were there as volunteers and frontliners as advocates of Covid-19. In the area of job creation, you will see that the NYSC has provided jobs for the unemployment, such as the area of skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development, whereby the Corps members are brought together and trained with skills so that they would be able to serve as employment of labour, not employees. To bring out their skills in the aspects of agriculture, tailoring, making of hair and many others.
“This has really helped to stabilize the country. When they are talking of scraping of NYSC where do they want us to start from? This NYSC serves as a succor for Corps members. ”
According to the NYSC boss, the one year programme helps prepare them for live after school.
“Immediately they leave camp, all the skills and training they learned in camp will prepare them ahead for the labour markets. When you are talking about scraping of NYSC, where do they think all the thousands of corps members will fall back on when they leave school?”
” The relationship between NYSC and the real labour markets would build these corps members to enable them build their aptitude to get a good job. Have them pass through NYSC, they will know how to plan and prepare for life challenges.
“We thank the governor of Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki for giving us this modern building and 250 KVA generator,” Olubukola added.
In her vote of thanks, the Edo State NYSC camp director, Mrs. Eke Regina urged the corps members to work as a team in the camp so that they can achieve success. She thanked members for comporting themselves since they came to the camp.