24th July, 2012
Security at the NYSC orientation camp at Wailo Village of Bauchi was beefed up Monday during the closing ceremony of orientation training for Batch ‘B’ 2013 NYSC members posted to the state.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who covered the event, reports that there was heavy presence of police and military personnel within and outside the camp.
Some of the security men were seen lying in the bush, prepared to handle any unforeseen happening.
NAN also reports that after the ceremony, the NYSC members were advised to collect their posting letters immediately and leave the camp.
It will be recalled that some weeks ago, there were rumours of an explosion at the Wailo camp, which was refuted by the state government, the NYSC authorities and the Bauchi Commissioner of Police.
In his speech at closing ceremony, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Sagir Saleh, reiterated an earlier directive to stakeholders to ensure the safety of corps members.
He also called on the corps members to relate freely with their host communities, throwing them a challenge to learn some local languages before the end of the service year.
The Director of NYSC in the state, Mr. Nuhu Kwaghe, appealed to those benefiting from the services of the corps members to provide enabling environment for optimal output.
In Plateau, the NYSC State Coordinator, Mr. Maram Maful, said that 820 NYSC batch “B” 2012 corps members posted to the state, had been re-deployed.
Maful, who spoke in Jos on Monday in a ceremony to mark the end of the orientation exercise, said that reasons for the redeployment included marital and medical grounds.
He also said that others asked to be re-deployed on reasons that bordered on security.
The coordinator commended the corps members for exhibiting a high sense of patriotism, honesty and selflessness in the course of the orientation exercise.
He advised them to participate fully in the Community Development Service (CDS) activities.
“You should strive to write your names in the sand of times by impacting positively on the lives of your host communities. Try to execute projects that will meet the needs of your people,” he said.
He cautioned the corps members to shun local politics and be vanguards of peace, unity and selfless service.
Mr. Lohfa Bako, Youths Development Commissioner, in his remarks, assured the corps members of full safety, and declared that no one would be posted to crisis prone areas.
In Kogi, Governor Idris Wada at the passing out parade of the 2012 corps members, in Asaya-Kabba urged them to embrace self-reliance as a tool for socio-economic development of the nation.
Wada, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Mr. Isah Aliu, said the orientation was to equip corps member with practical, social and leadership skills to face future challenges.
He said the skills acquisition and entrepreneurial development programmes, which they had gone through would strengthen the work in the larger society.
“I urge you to take your community development services, as a veritable skill geared towards curtailing unemployment in the nation,” he said.
In Gombe State, the Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Igyuse Teryima, said that more than 1,000 of the 1,687 corps members deployed to the state were re-deployed to other states.
Teryima told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview shortly after the passing out ceremony of the corps members that the affected members had applied for the redeployment.
In his address during the ceremony, the coordinator said corps members were posted to the sectors approved by the government.
“In line with the new posting policy of the Federal Government, we shall post corps members to only the approved sectors: primary and secondary education, agriculture, health and rural areas.
“I enjoin all corps members to accept their posting in good faith, as we shall sanction those who lobby their employers to reject them for personal reasons,” he said.
Teryima thanked Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo for renovating the structures and beefing up security at the camp.