Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, has suggested that after the ongoing discussions on the new minimum wage are concluded, the Federal government plans to enhance the monthly stipend of the Corps members.
Ahmed also forewarned the corp members not to share camp events on social media, citing the recent expulsion of three corp members for disobeying this camp regulation.
During his speech to 2762 corp members of Batch B, Stream One, at the Ogun State NYSC Orientation Camp in Sagamu on Saturday, the DG made this revelation.
Ahmed commended the participants on reaching this stage of the orientation camp, noting that many of their peers had not been as fortunate in their academic careers to be able to claim the title of corp member.
He emphasized that even though the training could be challenging, it is intended to help them develop their leadership abilities so that they can become better Nigerians and contribute more to society. He thus advised them to take the structured instruction seriously.
Reminding you that publishing camp events online or on social media is against camp regulations, Ahmed said, “three of your colleagues elsewhere were caught infringing these rules and sharing camp activities on social media, and they have since decamped. Night travel is also prohibited; in fact, as needless travel has claimed many lives in the past, it is best to avoid it.
We don’t want it to happen again, therefore even if you have to go, make sure you have authorization to do so and have a place to stay beyond 6 o’clock.
And as for your allowance, don’t worry—you can be certain that it will increase as soon as the current minimum wage discussions are resolved. You are very unique, thus there is no way the government would forget you.
The DG encouraged the young people to think about a future in the military, stating that he was quite pleased with the military prowess of the parade guard that the corpers provided for him.
He urged the corp members to take their security extremely seriously, emphasizing that even if the camp has impenetrable security, it is still the responsibility of the corp members to avoid going wherever they are not authorized to in order to keep themselves safe.
Ahmed also asked the corp members to carry out their obligations as responsible representatives of the 51-year-old program and to respect the culture of the community to which they would be deployed for their primary duty. He then gave four cows to the corpers to feed them, which caused the corpers to applaud loudly.
The Ogun State Coordinator of NYSC, Mrs. Olayinka Nasamu, welcomed the DG and reported that there are 2762 corp members altogether in the camp, which began on Wednesday, June 26. Of them, 922 are men and 1423 are women.
According to Nasamu, hand washing stations have been set up at the camp’s entrance and in a few other locations as part of a planned strategy to stop the cholera outbreak.
Corp members have been told to wash their hands, use sanitizers, and make sure the camp is kept clean. According to her, campers have also taken part in all of the programs offered, especially the ones that focus on entrepreneurship development and skill acquisition, which provide them the tools they need to start their own businesses.
Nasamu highlighted the requirements for the orientation camp, including the drilling of more boreholes, the installation of more water reservoirs, the provision of inadequate mattresses and bunks, the absence of a working ambulance, and the establishment of a suitable food store.