Doctor Opposes Calls To Scrap NYSC

A medical consultant with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Dr. Haruna Shehu, has condemned the call by some Nigerians for government to scrap the NYSC scheme.

Shehu gave the commendation at the Angwan-Bassa community in the Gwagwalada Area Council, FCT during the inauguration of a refurbished borehole project embarked upon by an NYSC member, Dr. Grace Obiefuna.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the ceremony also featured medical outreach in which members of the community were offered free medical consultation and treatment.

Shehu commended Obiefuna who hails from Anambra State for embarking on such a project aimed at promoting healthy living within the community.

He noted that the NYSC scheme was a laudable programme of the federal government aimed at promoting unity in the country.

“If not for NYSC, I would not have known Imo State and because of the good experience I had during my service year, I stayed back in Imo for sometime after the programme before coming to Abuja.

“It is true that the service year has its own challenges but the calls to scrap the scheme are not in the interest of this country.

“This is because the borehole project we are inaugurating now is a product of NYSC, executed by somebody who is not from the FCT,” the medical practitioner said.

Shehu called on corps members not to allow negative events created by miscreants to dampen their enthusiasm for the unity of the country.

In her remarks, Obiefuna said her interest in the borehole project and medical outreach in the community followed the high prevalence of water-borne disease, including schistosomiasis, among the community members.

She said the disease was a parasitic infection caused by a worm, schistosoma haematobium, and which could be acquired through contact with infected water bodies.

He said the worm, after penetrating the skin, usually led to the passage of bloody urine by the infected individual.

Obiefuna said the disease was predominant in most communities in Gwagwalada Area Council, noting that its prevention was cheaper than