Lagos State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mohammed Momoh, has called on the incoming administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to provide the state with a befitting Permanent Orientation Camp to replace the sub-standard one currently in use.
Momoh, who spoke at the close of orientation for the 2019 Batch A Corps members deployed to the state on Tuesday, pleaded that the camp be relocated to the land already allocated for the purpose at Agbowa, outskirts of Ikorodu, Lagos.
This, he stressed, would enable the agency meet the growing need of corps deployment to the state, maintaining that the current camp was not ideal as the facility could not take the number of corps members that should have been posted to Lagos State.
He maintained that Lagos is the only state without a permanent orientation camp for the NYSC programme, even as he said the current facility had been creating a lot of logistics problems.
Momoh explained that an ideal camp should not be within the city, but at a semi-rural environment, adding that the agency had been grappling with security issues at the present temporary camp at Agege area of Lagos.
He told Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by Mr. Oluseye Oladejo, Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, “Thank you very much sir, for giving us an enabling platform towards achieving the noble goals and objectives of the NYSC scheme in Lagos State.
READ ALSO: We Didn’t Ask Buhari For 1m Migrants — Canadian Embassy
“We wish to plead that the incoming administration should give the state a befitting Permanent Orientation Camp on the land allocated for this purpose in Agbowa in order to meet the growing need of corps deployment in the state.”
Momoh stated that corps members participated in different camp activities aimed at equipping tham with requisite skills necessary for nation building, including military drills, citizenship and leadership training, martial arts, human capital development training, shills acquisition and entrepreneurial development.
He assured the corps members that the scheme and the nation were proud of them, adding that the skills they had been exposed to should be utlised to impact on their host communities positively in diverse ways, even as he urged them to bring to the fore their ingenuity, creativity and innovations to help them overcome some the numerous challenges of the nation.
Governor Ambode, in his speech, stated that the state government would continue to ensure the welfare and security of corps members in the state remained its priority, and that in line with the scheme’s policy, “we will continue to reward your every outstanding commitment and achievement done to foster peace, unity and development in our beloved nation.”
He admonished the corps members to take their skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development post camp training seriously “knowing that what separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones is pure perseverance and creativity.”
Declaring the camp closed, Ambode commended the chairman, NYSC Governing Board, the state coordinator and all camp officials for ensuring the successful conduct of the orientation course.
