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| National Youth Service Corps |
The Benue State coordinator, National Youth Service Corps, Mr Joshua Shicha, on Thursday said two corps members of the 2018 Batch ‘A’ had been “remobilised” in Benue State.
Speaking during an interview with The Punch in Makurdi, he also stated that the affected corps members, who he declined to name, were remobilised for absconding. He explained that the corps members were not seen in their place of primary assignment for three months.
According to him, such an act is against the NYSC rules and regulations.
He also said 950 corps members of the 2018 Batch ‘A’ in the state successfully completed their service year.
The state coordinator equally said a corps member of the batch, Etim Sunday (BN/18A/2012), won awards for his rural electrification project, adding that another corps member of the batch, Ruth Andrew (BN/18A/1633), got a commendation letter for her sensitisation and awareness campaign on drug abuse.
On the passing out parade, Shicha said, “A circular came from the headquarters that it should be observed low-key. It is not only in Benue. For some years, we have been observing it low-key. It is not the decision of the NYSC in Benue State but that of the national headquarters. No reason was given. They told us it should be observed low-key.
“Two corps members were remobilised in the state. Any corps member who left the place of his primary assignment for a period of three months automatically is to repeat the corps service year. Those people were not found in the various places of assignment within a period of three months. So, we communicated to the National Directorate at National Headquarters concerning this case of abscondment and we were directed from Abuja that they should be remobilised.”
He urged ex-corps members to remain disciplined and good ambassadors of the scheme.
He also advised them to strive to become self-reliant and employers of labour rather than applicants for white collar jobs, which he noted, were hard to come by.
He added, “The white collar job is not there; even it is there, it is not easy to get. So the training they received through the skill acquisition and entrepreneurial development programme, they should continue with it.
“Those who have finished the training can start their own business and those who have yet to catch up with it can retrain themselves so that they can be self-employed or even become employers of labour.”
