‘Facilities at NYSC orientation camps deplorable’

The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig. Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, has lamented the obsolete, dilapidated and grossly inadequate facilities at the orientation camps across the country.

Kazaure said this on Tuesday in Calabar during the 2016 ‘Batch B’ pre-orientation workshop organised for stakeholders to interact and fashion out ways for a successful orientation programme.

He said the way out of the challenge was for all the three tiers of government to live up to their statutory roles in the operations of the scheme.

The director-general said the scheme was motivated by the Federal Government through the provision of funds for its activities in spite of the present financial challenges.

He said, “The NYSC scheme started with less than 2,700 corps members in 1973. Today, the scheme is now mobilising over 300,000 corps members annually.”

Also speaking at the event, the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Ivara Esu, said that the NYSC was established as a platform for engendering oneness and national cohesion.

The governor announced the donation of N1m to be shared among the 14 best performing corps members of the 2015 Batch `B’ session in the state.

In his comment, the state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Asu Okang, said corps members in the state had contributed greatly to the socio-economic development of the state.

The state Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs. Ifeoma Anidobi, commended the state government, traditional rulers and security agencies for ensuring the peaceful stay of corps members in the state.