The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed has appealed to employers to prioritise the security and welfare of the corps members serving in their organisations.
Ahmed made the appeal during the 2023 edition of the NYSC Corps Employers Workshop organised in Port Harcourt for corps employers and corps members.
He described the theme of the workshop, “Harnessing the potential of corps members through effective utilisation – The role of corps employers”, as apt.
He said that the cardinal objective of the workshop was to remind corps employers of their statutory responsibilities over the welfare and security of the corps members posted to various establishments in Rivers for their primary assignments.
Ahmed said, “NYSC, since 1973, has filled a vacuum in the effort geared towards the development of the people, especially those in rural communities”.
He listed the delay in applying or not applying for service, increasing rate of corps members’ rejection by some employers, and aiding corps members to stage manage their own rejection as some of the persistent challenges facing the scheme.
Other challenges include the underutilisation of corps members, delay in the issuance of monthly clearance to serving corps members and inadequate positions or statutory welfare for corps members.
The rest were the lack of accommodation, payment from employers, demonstration of apathy and lack of commitment towards corps members, lack of support for corps members’ Community Development Services and approving leave passes for corps members.
The NYSC boss, therefore, urged
corps employers to look into the identified challenges and proffer lasting solutions to them.
He said that NYSC is committed to the utmost security of corps members and appealed to corps employers to prioritise the safety of the corps members serving in their organisations.
He thanked the stakeholders for their intervention in providing skills for corps members and accomplishments in the areas of education, healthcare delivery, free healthcare services, agriculture, rural infrastructure, electoral processes, science, Information and Communication Technology, amongst others.
Ahmed said that to sustain the feat and position the scheme for greater impact, it had to continuously give appraisal of the performance of the members of staff and corps employers, who manage the corps members at the grassroots.
In a speech, the Chairman of NYSC State Governing Board, Dr Tammy Danagogo, said the workshop would help to chart a new course in changing the present narrative of the NYSC toward becoming more efficient and effective in the performance of its operations.
Danagogo, who is also the State Secretary to the Government, was represented by the Director Administration, Office of the State Secretary to the Government, Mrs Wealth Inko-Tariah.
He described the timing of the workshop as apt, especially at a time when the scheme was repositioning itself for an enhanced service delivery.
Danagogo said the scheme was very dear to Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, as was clearly demonstrated by his overwhelming support to all the programmes of NYSC in the state.
He charged the workshop participants not to turn a blind eye to the fact that there were unscrupulous employers and officials, who usually conspired to cover up corps members who were not resident in their areas of primary assignment.
According to him, the ugly trend negated the principle and practice of the service year as a platform for service of the Nigerian Youth to offer one year of non-broken selfless service to the nation.
He commended corps members who had remained steadfast in upholding the ideals of the scheme and corps employers who were doing their best to provide comfort to corps members posted to their organisations.
Danagogo also commended the management of the NYSC for its innovation, hard work, diligence, commitment and dedication in organising the workshop to bridge the gap between the corps employers and corps members and urged them to sustain it.
Also, the Rivers NYSC Coordinator, Mr George Mfongang, said that the workshop was another milestone toward achieving the objectives of the scheme to close the gap in the relationship between the corps members and corps employers.
Mfongang said that the scheme under the present management had shown “more than enough commitment in rebranding and repositioning the scheme towards becoming a world-class organisation”.
He said that the workshop was timely as it mostly dwelt on the welfare of the corps members and how to effectively mobilise them for the socio-economic development of the nation, especially in Rivers.
He said that although the state is very hospitable, more was needed to create a conducive environment for the security and welfare of corps members by their host communities to enable them to discharge their duties efficiently.
