By Ngozi Nwankwo
As the National Youth Service Corps,NYSC, gears up to mark its 53rd anniversary, one of the Scheme’s former Chief Executives, Brigadier General Maharazu Ismaila Tsiga (Rtd) has urged the current Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu to sustain the tempo of national unity, integration and all round development, which are the hallmarks of the organization.
Tsiga spoke when he received the latter who paid a courtesy call on him at his residence in Kaduna.
The former Director-General commended the staff of the Scheme and Corps Members for their immeasurable contributions to the attainment of NYSC’s lofty objectives over the years.
He described the workforce as the backbone, and Corps Members as the spine that have been working tirelessly to keep the nation firmly indivisible, while recording tremendous achievements in all spheres of nation building.
Tsiga also encouraged the management of NYSC to rejig the welfare of Corps Members to boost their morale in carrying out their national assignment.
He cited how his administration that spanned from 2009 to 2011 introduced a programme tagged “War Against Poverty,WAP, through which Corps Members were given N250,000.00 naira to start up small scale businesses and become self-reliant at the end of their service year.
Earlier, the incumbent Director General lauded his host for his achievements while in office.
Nafiu stated that the courtesy call was part of his initiative to visit all past Chief Executives of the Scheme to tap from their wealth of experience and reservoir of wisdom, which enabled them succeed in piloting the affairs of the Scheme during their tenures in office.
The NYSC helmsman informed his host that the Scheme is working relentlessly in expanding its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development,SAED, programme as a way of combating graduate unemployment in the country. He disclosed that many partners have come on board in recent times to join this crusade, thereby availing the Scheme entrepreneurial expertise as well as financial and material aids to Corps Members.
Nafiu however revealed that the ever increasing population of graduates coming for national service owing to the proliferation of Corps Producing Institutions remains a major challenge to the Scheme, as a result of this, the government has increased the number to be mobilized in 2026 to 450,000.
