1st March, 2012
The Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State (YES-O) formally kicked off Thursday with the deployment of 7,000 out of the 20,000 youths recently employed by the state government for the scheme.
According to a press statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo and made available to P.M.NEWS, the youths, who had undergone a two-week training programme at the NYSC Orientation Camp, Iseyin, were Thursday formally registered at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan.
Adedayo noted that while 3,500 cadets were deployed to Works and Traffic, the remaining 3,500 were assigned to the Environment section and were saddled with the task of maintaining and enforcing traffic and environmental laws of the state.
Pointing out that the cadets had been fully trained in their respective areas, Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s spokesperson explained that the choice of Works and Traffic and Environment to kick-start the scheme was against the backdrop of the recent flood disaster in the city of Ibadan and the need to maintain the tempo of cleanliness that Ibadan and other towns in the state had begun to assume in the last few months.
He also said that the cadets would function as traffic control officers in order to check the deplorable traffic situation in some parts of the state.
“The cadets will be dressed in maroon and gold overall clothes and will have their respective areas such as ‘Works and Traffic’ and ‘Environment’ boldly inscribed at the back of their uniforms,’’ Adedayo said.
He appealed to the people of the state to cooperate with the government by ensuring that illegal dumping of refuse, encroachment on road setbacks and drainages, as well as all other behaviour inimical to the well-being of the environment were stopped forthwith.
According to Adedayo, the remaining youths would soon be invited for training and afterwards deployed to other areas such as Education, Agriculture, Health and Emergency Services.
By Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan