The National Governing Board of the National Youth Service Corps has assured corps members of the board’s commitment towards addressing the issue of infrastructural decay in most of its orientation camps.
Chairman of the Board, Chief Gordon Bozimo, gave this assurance while addressing Batch ‘A’ corps members on Wednesday at the NYSC orientation camp in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Bozimo said the board had not lost sight of the operational lapses and challenges experienced in some of the orientation camps in the country.
He identified poor response to statutory obligations by other tiers of government, insecurity and rejection of corps members by some organisations as other challenges facing the board.
“We cannot lose consciousness of the plethora of these debilitating operational hiccups. In fact, challenges such as infrastructural deficiency in some camps, poor response to statutory obligations by other tiers of government, rejection of corps members, insecurity, etc. stare us in the face.
“These, more often than not, have always stirred up apprehension and lobby for preferential posting by prospective corps members, and in some instances, their parents/guardians”, Bozimo said.
He, however, charged stakeholders to ensure that the NYSC scheme did not die in the face of such challenges.
Describing the visit of board members to orientation camps as a routine oversight assignment, Bozimo noted that such visits would afford members the opportunity to interact with corps members, state government and other stakeholders with a view to finding lasting solutions to the challenges militating against effective youth mobilization.
According to him, “It therefore behoves all stakeholders to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that this noble scheme does not get drown with these turbulences. This is where the role of the NYSC National Governing Board becomes very crucial and essential.
“These efforts have gone a long way in alleviating the plight of corps members, but much still need to be done to contend with the steady increase in corps population.
“Consequently, the governing board has remained resolute in its intermittent visits to states. I am happy that many states will attest to the fact that the efforts of this board have yielded results and will continue to yield more dividends in years to come”.
Mr. Bozimo also commended the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, pointing out that the aim of the scheme was to reduce unemployment among youths.