From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has appealed to the people of the new host community where the camp is being temporarily relocated by the Kaduna State Government to cooperate and be tolerant with its activities through the three weeks orientation exercise.
The Service had deployed a total of 2,300 2021 batch ‘B’ (stream 1) prospective Corps members to Kaduna State, who are currently registering at the temporary camp which is Government College, Kurmi Mashi, Kaduna, ahead of their swearing-in ceremony on Monday, August 9.
The Coordinator of the Service in Kaduna State, Isah Wana, said the temporary relocation was due to the intention of the state government to renovate the facilities at the permanent orientation camp which has been in use for decades.
According to him, ‘the orientation camp is a direct responsibility of the state government based on the act that set up the scheme. The Kaduna State Government just told us that they want to renovate the camp because they felt it was not befitting for us and asked us to move to a temporary venue which is the Government College here in Kurmi Mashi. You can see that the building has just been painted as if they have planned to bring us here.’
On the need for tolerance, he said ‘as long as we will be here, we must live with the community and the community must understand that we have come to live with them for this temporary period. We want them to give us a corresponding affection while we are here.
‘The adjoining families and communities here who are not used to our system will be hearing bugle calls, trumpet calls, drums intermittently which they are not used to. We want them to be patient with us. We want them to tolerate us.
‘They should know that we are inconvenient to be here as an ideal camp should certainly be far from an environment like this. So, both of us may not like what we are seeing, but we must tolerate one another for these few weeks we will be here.’
On security, he said: ‘We have been there at the permanent camp and there has never been any attempt to attack us. Don’t forget that NYSC is a brainchild of the military and they have been doing so much to protect the corps members across the country. As the manager of the scheme in the state, I did not see any threat.
‘If there is going to be any security threat at this temporary camp, it will be that of theft and drugs especially cannabis which of course cannot be said to be peculiar to this place alone.
‘But don’t forget that NYSC is the most organised and formal youth outfit in Nigeria with proper planning in all we do. We have security personnel all over and men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) are in the ground to respond to any threat day and night,’ he explained.
The coordinator further explained the readiness of the state government to ensure that corps members coming from within and outside the country have a hitch-free exercise in terms of accommodation, feeding, health and security.
‘Usually, there are associated difficulties with human needs when you move to a new environment. Needs like accommodation, water, toilet and feeding. Again, the timing for moving was just one week. The facilities are large enough to accommodate us but because some of the buildings have been fallow, facilities like toilets are minimal.
‘But we are coping as we build fast new ones. We are sinking a new borehole while other collaborating agencies are moving around with tankers to supply water.
‘There is a bigger clinic here. We just adopted it. Officially, we are expecting 2,300 corps members but of course, the human factor will play up and we may not have the exact number at the close of registration,’ he added.