NYSC to extend service year to 18 Months?

The Niger State government is to construct a new National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp, Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu disclosed in Minna yesterday even as he called for the service year to be extended from 12 to 18 months.

Aliyu made the disclosure when he received the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) director general, Brigadier General Johnson Olawunmi who paid him a courtesy call at the Government House Minna, yesterday.

Governor Aliyu who did not disclose the cost of the project said the first phase would include the hostel blocks, director’s quarters and the quarter guard.

The governor said the government would continue to partner with the NYSC to make youth corps members deployed to the state to live in peace and harmony with the host community.

He said that there was need for the service year to be extended from 12 months to 18 months to give more room for the corps members to be exposed to more training adding that Nigerians should appreciate the NYSC scheme instead of criticising it.

Dr Aliyu suggested that the director general should look into some lapses already discovered in the operation of the NYSC scheme especially the springing up of fake NYSC camps and corps members evading the service after inducing officials, so that people will have more confidence in the scheme.

“Nigeria is not bad no matter the challenges we are facing. Nigeria is doing well, no matter the conditions we are in we are doing better than most nations.

“We must bring back the original concept, the original plan of the founding fathers of the NYSC”, he added.

Governor Aliyu therefore reemphasised that those that failed to participate in the NYSC should be sanctioned not only in employment seeking but in other ways so that all youths will participate in the programme.

Earlier the director general of the NYSC, Brigadier General Johnson Olawunmi had told the governor that he was impressed with what he has seen at the temporary NYSC camp at Paiko in Niger State and the level of collaboration between the scheme and the state government.

Brigadier General Olawunmi announced that to check the proliferation of NYSC camps and fake NYSC members the scheme had begun the computerisation of its activities insisting that very soon information about corps members will be received at the shortest notice.

General Olawunmi noted that as the election year approaches there is the need for more action to be taken to secure the lives and property of corps members adding that he would be personally visiting the states of the federation to assess the security situation before and during the election.