Kidnapped Corps Members Regain Freedom

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has confirmed that eight corps members who were kidnapped earlier by unidentified gunmen while travelling from Uyo in Akwa Ibom State to Sokoto State have regained their freedom.   The Director-General of NYSC, Yushahu Ahmed, confirmed this to newsmen on Friday, cautioning Corps Members to avoid nighttime travels.   Ahmed emphasized that the welfare and security of all members will remain the foremost concern of the organization.   “You will remember when these four members were travelling from Uyo in Akwa Ibom to Sokoto.   “They were kidnapped on 17 August 2024 on Funtua Bisau Road in Zamfara State.   “While in Zambara, we collaborated with the Army, Police, DSS and traditional rulers.   “We also had a meeting with the governor of Zambara State regarding the kidnapping of the prospective corps members.   “Consequently, through the combined effort of the security agencies, especially the Nigerian army and the NYSC, the mission started yielding results with the rescue of the first set of prospective four members,” Ahmed stated in a statement issued today.  

Surprise: Governor gifts Corpers N320 million, 600 bags of rice, 20 cows

Niger State Governor Umaru Bago has donated 600 bags of rice and 20 cows to the corps members posted to the state. This donation fulfills the pledge Governor Bago made on Tuesday during the swearing-in ceremony of the 2024 Batch ”B” Stream One orientation course. The Coordinator of the NYSC in Niger State, Olayinka Abdulwahab, confirmed that the items were delivered on Thursday. Additionally, the governor promised N200,000 to each of the 1,600 corps members in this batch, totaling N320 million. According to Bago, this gesture aims to enhance the corps members’ comfort and encourage them to remain in the state after completing their service year. Mr Bago equally promised to sink five boreholes and provide additional toilet facilities at both the male and female hostels. Mrs Abdulwahab noted that she had taken delivery of the 600 bags of rice and 20 cows, adding that the items were received with great elation by both corps members and camp officials. She said the process for the payment of the N200.000 for each of the corps members was ongoing, while the survey for the five boreholes and the toilets had commenced. The coordinator said the donation of the items would help mitigate the challenges faced by corps members during the orientation exercises. 

NYSC debunks reports of change of Corps members uniform

The National Service Corps, NYSC, has reacted to a trending social media video which depicts a change of Corps Members’ uniform to a new one. The NYSC said all the items that Corps members receive on arrival during registration at the Orientation Camps remain the same. The NYSC Director of Information and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, in a statement said, “Members of the public, especially Prospective Corps members are hereby advised to disregard the misleading and highly embarrassing tiktok video in its entirety, as efforts are ongoing on the distribution of uniforms and other essential variables to all the 37 NYSC Orientation Camps across the country in preparation for the forthcoming 2024 Batch ‘B’ Stream One Orientation Course,” “Recently, the Federal Government approved the improvement in the quality of the material used in sewing Corps Members’ uniforms. “This is already done and Corps Members are already enjoying the improved quality. “Social Media Influencers are strongly warned to desist forthwith, from using NYSC Corporate brand in any online medium that may attract negative publicity to the Scheme, while defaulters would be prosecuted according to legal provisions.’

Graduate unemployment: NYSC Trust Fund to the rescue – Senate

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Youth and Community Engagement, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), said that the recently passed National Youths Service Corps Trust Fund Bill would provide jobs for graduates. Adaramodu disclosed this when he led a delegation of the committee on an official visit to the Oyo State NYSC Orientation Camp at Iseyin on Saturday. He said that the bill, having scaled first and second readings and other crucibles of legislation, will soon be sent to the President for assent. The lawmaker said that the provision of the bill was basically to ensure that corps members get established through the training acquired from the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, programme. He added that the provisions of the bill also cater to corps members who might wish to go into business after their service year. “The issue of unemployment and what next for corps members after the service year will be a thing of the past soon. The bill will ensure that the dreams of every Nigerian graduate become a reality,” he said. Adaramodu disclosed that the Senate, in collaboration with relevant government departments, agencies and other stakeholders, would soon work on the upward review of corps members’ allowances.

NYSC Reacts To Report Of Corps Members Crying Over Rising Food Price

The National Youth Service Corp has reacted to a news reports were corp members expressed dissatisfaction with the soaring food prices in the Mammy market. The report alleged that a camp coordinator suggested that the Corp members exit the camp if they couldn’t cope with the surge in food prices. Reacting in a statement on Saturday, the NYSC described the report as untrue and intended to cause mischief. The statement read below: “The attention of NYSC Management has been drawn to the publication with the above headline making the rounds on the social media. “Management wishes to state that the story is nothing but a tissue of lies, intended to cause mischief, and generate traffic to the social media handles of the purveyors. “It is very laughable, absurd and unfortunate to allege that a State Coordinator addressed Corps Members, encouraging them to leave the Orientation Camp, because of food shortage. “Indeed, one with a probing mind will know that the allegation is fallacious, as no State Coordinator of the NYSC, many of whom are of the substantive rank of Deputy Director and have put in over 25 years in Service will utter such careless, very indicting and unintelligent statement. “For the avoidance of doubt and purposes of information, NYSC Orientation Camps are operated under a framework of checks and balances, built on so many layers. “In each camp is a Resident Officer posted from the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters, Abuja, to assist the camp managements run a hitch-free Orientation Course. He is resident in the camp for all through the three-week duration of the programme.  “Part of their mandate is to ensure that camp managements comply strictly with the laid down policies and rules concerning feeding of Corps Members, among others. “Officers of the Scheme of the directorate cadre also visit the camps on monitoring duties. They in turn play oversight functions on the Resident Officers and camp managements. “It is pertinent to state that the ultimate authority in the day-to-day running of the Scheme, the Director General, Brig Gen YD Ahmed goes round the NYSC Orientation Camps nationwide with his team, each camping season, primarily to see to the welfare of Corps Members. “It is imperative to emphasise that camp markets are highly regulated, so as to prevent exploitation of Corps Members by the operators. However, the markets are not insulated from the vagaries of inclement economic weather which is of global dimension.  “It is therefore unthinkable and immoral for one to manufacture lies in order to generate traffic for pecuniary benefits, throwing caution to the winds, while mindlessly generating anxiety among the parents and relatives of Corps Members. “NYSC from the highest echelon of authority to the least runs an open door policy, and will gladly answer enquiries concerning her operations for clarification”.

FG suspends accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic, Togo

Sequel to a report detailing how a degree was acquired from a university in Benin Republic in under two months, the Federal Government has suspended the accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates from the Country and Togo. “This report lends credence to suspicions that some Nigerians deploy nefarious means and unconscionable methods to get a Degree with the end objective of getting graduate job opportunities for which they are not qualified,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education Augustina Obilor-Duru said in a Tuesday statement. “The Federal Ministry of Education vehemently decries such acts and with effect from 2nd January 2024 is suspending evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from Benin and Togo Republics pending the outcome of an investigation that would involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and the two countries, the ministries responsible for Education in the two countries as well the Department of State Security Services (DSSS), and the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC).” The ministry is also calling on Nigerians to assist in providing information to help the committee as it seeks lasting solutions to prevent future occurrences. “FME has been contending with the problem including illegal institutions located abroad or at home preying on unsuspecting, innocent Nigerians and some desperate Nigerians who deliberately patronize such outlets,” the statement added. “Periodically, warnings have been issued by the Ministry and NUC against the resort to such institutions and in some instances, reports made to security agencies to clamp down on the perpetrators. The ministry will continue to review its strategy to plug any loopholes, processes, and procedures and deal decisively with any conniving officials.”