Each year, NYSC provides N14bn worth of services to Lagos — DG
Director General, National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the DG’s courtesy visit at the Lagos State Government house in Lagos, on Friday. Credit: NYSC
… set up by General Yakubu Gowon in 1973 to engender national unity.
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu, says the Scheme provides over N14 billion in annual services to the Lagos State Government and its people.
The DG said these services were provided by the 44,000 corps members deployed to the state across various sectors.
Nafiu stated this during a courtesy visit to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Government House in Marina, Lagos.
This was contained in a statement by the NYSC’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, on Friday.
“The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, has disclosed that NYSC provides services for the government and people of Lagos State worth over 14 billion naira annually.
“General Nafiu was quantifying, in minimum monetary value, the contributions of the over 44,000 Corps Members deployed to the length and breadth of the State in various capacities, including 333 medical doctors, 306 pharmacists, 274 nurses, and 7,188 teachers.
Nafiu said Lagos was the number one destination for corps members, noting that their parents were also comfortable with it, citing the relative security of the state,” the statement partly read.
The DG commended the Lagos State Governor for carrying out critical renovation work at the temporary camp of the NYSC in Iyana-Ipaja, even as work at the 10,000-capacity Permanent Orientation Camp is ongoing.
He said the Scheme looked forward to the completion of the camp so that corps members deployed to Lagos would camp in the same location, as opposed to the prevailing practice of dislodging some to contiguous camps.
Nafiu also requested the provision of an ambulance for the NYSC Secretariat in the state, as well as sustained support for the scheme in other areas.
“The DG requested that the secretariat be provided with an ambulance and urged him to sustain the other areas of support for the Scheme, which he said gave much-needed operational support to the State formation.
“General Nafiu also congratulated the Governor on the remodelled National Theatre, noting that it was a national monument of repute,” the statement added.
The NYSC was established by the former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, in 1973 to engender national integration following the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970.
The Scheme has since become a mandatory requirement for Nigerian graduates, who are expected to participate in four programmes, including a three-week Orientation Course, deployment to a Place of Primary Assignment, Community Development Service, and the Passing-Out Ceremony over a period of one year.
