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NYSC chief cautions against unpatriotic comments

By Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief
15 June 2015   |   1:00 am
NIGERIAN youths, especially corps members, should desist from derogatory statements that could negatively impact the nation’s image, the Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Samson Olawumi, has advised, warning that anyone caught would no longer be rewarded. The warning followed the inflammatory comments streaming through the social media. According to Olawumi, time has…
Olawumi

Olawumi

NIGERIAN youths, especially corps members, should desist from derogatory statements that could negatively impact the nation’s image, the Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Samson Olawumi, has advised, warning that anyone caught would no longer be rewarded.

The warning followed the inflammatory comments streaming through the social media. According to Olawumi, time has come for all Nigerians to appreciate and add values to the country through positive pronouncements about the nation and its leaders.

Quoting the recent pronouncements of President Muhammadu Buhari, he insisted that corps members are expected to champion the course of change in the country and as such should use the social media to promote the nation’s image.

The NYSC chief, who gave the warning at the weekend during his tour of Kaduna Orientation Camp, said the agency would continue to monitor the conduct of corps members online to know what they say about their country.

“Don’t think that the problems we are facing in Nigeria are peculiar to Nigeria, they obtain across the globe, therefore avoid making negative comments about Nigeria,” he said.

“It is better you present your opinion in a way that will show high level of patriotism to the country, including your places of primary assignment. Always pray for the peace of the country. Very soon, we want to see how we can bring back those cultures that Mr. President introduced in 1984.”

He further urged the corps members to take their skills acquisition training serious, as “Mr. President has instructed the scheme to train Nigerian graduates in such a way that they will be willing to be part of the change everyone has been talking about.”

According to him, government alone cannot provide the needed jobs in the country as “2015 batch ‘A’ alone has over 100,000 corps members deployed nationwide hence the need to take skills acquisition and entrepreneurial opportunity very seriously so that you can get something doing after the service year.”

However, he assured them of adequate security, as their security is paramount to the scheme – right from the camp through the service year, which was why the scheme introduced security lectures.

“For those of you interested in skills acquisition to guard against job search, please take the programme serious,” he said. “There is already soft loan plan for you to start your business on a small scale after a well written proposal may have been submitted.

“Please avoid anything that can make you run into trouble because we want to return you safely to your parents.”

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State NYSC Coordinator, Mr. Hilary Nasamu, said the camp has not experienced any breakdown of peace since the beginning of the camping, noting that “there is hope for Nigeria as the present category of corps members are well disciplined.”

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