Sola Ojo, Kaduna
16 out of 3,049 2019 batch ‘A’ corps members deployed to Kaduna State by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are to repeat the one-year mandatory service, while 19 others are being disciplined for various offences.
This is even as the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Faruq Yahaya gave N350,000 cash Stallion award to the best corps member, Thompson Ebiaye Genevieve, who studied Bio-Medical Science in Anglia Ruskia University, Cambridge.
The young Ondo State born but Cambridge trained Scientist with registration number KD/19A/0918, who served at the General Hospital, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, told Daily Sun that, she never saw the award coming as she was just rendering medical assistance to patients in the facility.
Speaking at the passing out parade (PoP) held at Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, the Coordinator of the Scheme in the State, Isa Wana, regretted that two (2) corps members, among the out-going Batch paid the supreme sacrifice, having lost their lives in the course of the service year.
The Coordinator believed that the out-going corps members have diligently gone through the four cardinal programmes of NYSC Scheme, “they have been able to prove their mettle in all facets of the service year, excelling in all the nooks and crannies of the State, where they were posted to serve their fatherland.”
“Several Community Development projects they initiated and completed are clear legacies that their service year was fruitful and beneficial to their host communities.
“Having passed through this Scheme, I have no doubt in my mind that they have internalized the lofty ideals of hard work, team-work, discipline, resilience and have acquired requisite leadership skills to be able to confront numerous challenges ahead of them in nation-building.
“Some corps members, who distinguished themselves in various activities of the Scheme, will be rewarded with the prestigious NYSC State Honours’ Award. In the same vein, a few corps members who infracted on the abiding rules and regulations of the scheme and performed below expectation will be sanctioned accordingly.
“I want to specially recognize the corps member declared the winner of the most outstanding individual Community Development project and the recipient of the Stallion Award of N350,000 instituted for the best CDS project by the General Officer Commanding Headquarters. 1Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna.
“I regret to also announce that two (2) corps members, among the out-going Batch paid the supreme sacrifice, having lost their lives in the course of the service year. May the Almighty God grant their families and the nation fortitude to bear the loss”, he added.
Declaring the batch’s service year closed, the State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said, his administration would forever remain grateful to the founding fathers of the scheme for setting up such an enduring institution that promotes unity, national cohesion and socio-economic development, using graduate youths as critical agents.
Represented by Commissioner, Ministry, Human Services and Social Development, Hafsat Baba, El-Rufai urged the passing out corps members to always put to practice all the skills acquired in the course of the service year which he believed would help them to adjust quickly to the larger society.