Education

The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim has appealed to appropriate government authorities to fastback the remaining process for the actualization of the NYSC Trust Fund.

The appeal is contained in the address of the Director-General to the closing ceremony of the 2022 Batch ‘A’ stream I orientation course presented by the Osun Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Winifred Shokpeka at the permanent orientation camp, Ede, Osun State.

Major General Ibrahim explained that once operational, the Trust Fund would enhance the quality of the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurs Development, SAED, scheme through provision of adequate training materials, while all bankable business proposals would be supported with startup grants.

He said the benefiting Corps members would be expected to step down the vocational training or employ a good number of youths of their host Communities, thereby pulling millions of Nigerians out of poverty and stemming the tide of youth restiveness and the tendency for criminality.

The NYSC boss thanked the House of Representatives in particular and the entire National Assembly for the progress made so far on the legislative processes on the Bill for the establishment of the NYSC Trust Fund.

Major General Ibrahim who charged the Corp members on good conduct said, “let me also warn that social vices such as drug abuse and trafficking, cybercrime and advanced fee fraud will not be condoned.”

He thanked the Federal government for providing the enabling environment for the takeoff of the ‘Corps members’ enrolment in the National Health Insurance Scheme under a comprehensive initiative known as NYSC Group Individual Family Social Health Insurance Programme.

In her own admonition, the state coordinator, Mrs Winifred Shokpeka pleaded with Corps Employers to accept members that were posted to them and take care of the like their own children.

One thousand five hundred and fifty five Corps members had been distributed across the 30 Local Governments of Osun, while one hundred and eighty eight dislodged from Lagos for the purpose of the orientation have been returned to Lagos for the primary assignment.

Adenitan Akinola

Health

The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC has taken its medical outreach programme to some rural communities in Osun State.

Flagging off the programme at Apomu in Isokan Local Government, the NYSC Coordinator in Osun State, Mrs Winifred Shokpeka said the initiative was part of the mandate of the scheme to impact rural dwellers, improve corps members’ sense of national integration and patriotism.

Mrs. Shokpeka explained that residents of rural communities would benefit immensely from such interventions, considering the distance of hospitals to them and sometimes money to access basic medical care.

The NYSC Coordinator in Osun State appealed to all members of communities benefiting in the outreach to take advantage of the opportunity to know their health status as a measure to prevent fatalities.

Also speaking, the Head of the NYSC Medical Team, Dr Chidinma Ibe hinted that the programme was a volunteer initiative of the corps medical personnel to create awareness, to help the rural dwellers find answers to some of their hidden health questions.

She stated that the intervention would provide succour for the people because some of them did not visit the hospital for lack of money and other personal reasons.

Dr Ibe pointed out that the programme was designed majorly for the elderly due to the obvious challenges associated with health at old age with risk of high blood sugar, high blood pressure and degenerating immune system.

She advised the people to take their health more seriously and go for medical checkups at least once a year.

Beneficiaries of the medical outreach were taken through diabetes, blood sugar and blood pressure screening by the medical corps of the NYSC.

Adenitan Akinola