From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has expressed happiness over the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme’s new policy direction on food security.
The policy, which aims at using Corps members to massively boost the agricultural value chain and increase food production, was described by the governor as “heartwarming and a welcome development.”
The governor stated the above on Friday, at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Nonwa-Gbam, in Tai Local Government Area of the state, when he presided over the swearing in ceremony of 2024 Batch C Stream I Corps members deployed to Rivers.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Bureau, office of the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Hamilton Amadi, he commended the Management of the NYSC scheme and Corps members for their untiring “energy, selfless service and commitment in building a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.”
The governor charged the Corps members to stay disciplined, dedicated and committed in doing good through exemplary conduct and behaviour, thus, repaying the trust reposed in them by Nigerians.
The governor, however, assured the Corps members of his administration’s “conscious and consistent effort to make their welfare and security non-negotiable top priority.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Coordinator, NYSC Rivers State, Mr. Moses Oleghe, had enjoined the Corps members to see the national service as a veritable opportunity for them “to contribute their quota to nation building and growth.”
He commended the Corps members for “demonstrating high sense of patriotism and loyalty in realizing the objectives of the orientation course.”
The coordinator concluded by encouraging them to make sincere and honest sacrifices that will engineer positive turnaround in the nation’s socio-economic development.
A total of 1,901 Corps members comprising of 574 males and 1,327 females were sworn in during the ceremony by Justice Diri Jumbo Stephens, who represented the Chief Judge.