By Ngozi Nwankwo
The Director General, National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier, YD Ahmed has said that the education sector in Nigeria has recorded some level of successes since the establishment of the NYSC.
Ahmed said this at the media chat with Editors/Bureau Chiefs held on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said NYSC has been contributing to the development of education through the posting of Corps members to teach in schools at all levels, adding that that was in addition to the activities of the Corps Mass Literacy Group, with the cardinal mandate of reducing illiteracy to the barest minimum in Nigeria.
The DG explained that since the establishment of the NYSC, the successive managers of the Scheme have been committed to the pursuit of its mandate with the support of the various tiers of government and other stakeholders.
“ In line with the vision of its founding fathers, and as a dynamic and result- oriented agency, deliberate steps have continued to be taken to reposition the Scheme for greater performance. Indeed, the results have been heartening as the Scheme has made invaluable contributions to the socio-economic development of the country in the last five decades to the admiration of all stakeholders,” said Ahmed.
Explaining other achievements of the NYSC, the director general said the Scheme has made indelible records in fostering national unity and integration.
According to him, the policy of deploying Corps members to States other than their States of origin has helped in giving Corps participants broader understanding of the country, especially as they experience first-hand the socio-cultural similarities and particularities of their host communities.
“Over the years, inter-tribal marriages among serving and ex-Corps Members have continued to enhance better understanding among youths, who meet in the course of the National Service. Many ex-corps Members have also become permanent residents and contributors to the socio-economic development of their States of deployment,” he said.
The impact of the NYSC on health, Brigadier Ahmed said Corps Doctors and paramedics have continued to serve in public hospitals, especially Primary Healthcare Centres, all over the country.
He further explained that Corps Doctors and other medical personnel have been using the platform of the Community Development Service to carry out medical outreaches in various communities.
In the area of infrastructure he said that Corps Members have impacted numerous communities through projects executed on the platform of the Scheme’s development Service which included school structures, health facilities, water boreholes, culverts, road construction and many other projects that dot the entire landscape of the country.
While saying that NYSC has lived up to its mission statement of being the leading light of Youth Organisation in Africa, Ahmed used the opportunity to salute General Gowon for bequeathing to Nigeria the enduring platform for the promotion of national unity, integration and development.
