BY VICTOR NWEGEDE
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Tuesday charged the Batch 'C' Stream 'I' Corps Members to perform their duties with diligence in their places of primary assignment following the closing ceremony of their orientation course at the NYSC Permanent Site, Old MacGregor College, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.
The NYSC Director General ably represented by the State Coordinator, Mrs Bamai Mercy Dawuda urged the corps members to sustain the spirit of patriotism, hard work and resilience, which they imbibed during their orientation course in the camp.
The DG further advised the corps members to strive to meet with the expectations of Nigerians by contributing towards the progress and development of the country, asking them to keep their oath of allegiance.
"In this regard, I would like to remind you of your oath of allegiance in which you pledged to accept positing in good faith. I enjoin you to perform your duties with diligence and be guided by the provisions of the NYSC Act and Bye-Laws as well as workplace rules and regulations," she said.
He also advised the corps members to shun every activity capable of putting their lives in danger, warning them against partaking in local politics, unauthorized journey, night trips, night parties, use of social media to promote falsehoods and hatred, amongst others.
“I urge you to avoid using social media for ethnic jingoism, rumor peddling and promotion of hatred, instead your activities online should be targeted at self improvement and as well as promotion of unity, peace and prosperity of our dear country. Also avoid being speculative on the issues affecting NYSC, instead visit our website, social media platforms and other channels for clarification," she said.
Ibrahim however, charged them to integrate the NYSC objectives with their host communities by respecting their cultures while undertaking both personal and group community service development projects that would help to uplift the living standard of the people in the area.
He commended the corps members for their active participation in entrepreneurial and vocational trainings conducted in the camp under the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
The DG encouraged them to build on their acquired skills by availing themselves opportunities of post camp training, saying that this would go a long way in empowering them for self-employment.
Speaking further, Ibrahim said that the NYSC has started liaising with financial institutions and other stakeholders to provide start-up loans which will enable the corps members to achieve their business dreams and assured them of the management's continuous support to explore more in optimizing the impacts of the programme.
He advised the corps members to be good ambassadors of the NYSC as well as their respective families and institutions of graduation, asking them to be wary of the acts that can soil the image of the scheme, especially vices such as drug abuse and trafficking, cyber-crime and advanced-fee-fraud.
He equally reminded the corps members of the need to be observing the COVID-19 protocols and also disclosed the Federal government's plan to make presentation of evidence of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for gaining entry to the government office starting from 1st December 2021.
The DG urged all the employers of the corps members to always accept those posted to their areas and make all necessary provisions for their welfare.
Ibrahim thanked the Federal, state and local governments, all the aiding agencies for their unwavering supports, which according to him, contributed to the success of the NYSC programmes in the orientation camp.
