Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has promised that corps members posted to state government’s institutions will soon enjoy an upward review of state allowance, as a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to their welfare.
Gov. Ugwuanyi also reiterated the government’s commitment to youth empowerment through implementation of policies and programmes aimed at equipping them to optimise their capacity to drive national development.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of 2018 Batch ‘A’ Corps Members, who were deployed to Enugu State for their national assignment, Gov. Ugwuanyi congratulated them for the successful completion of their educational pursuits from various institutions of higher learning in the country and beyond.
The governor noted that his administration had recently increased the allowance of corps medical personnel posted to the state to encourage them to serve in rural health centres in line with the government’s rural development agenda.
He described the National Youth Service Corps scheme as a unifying programme aimed at fostering national unity and development, adding that its objective was also “to bring together young Nigerians of varying cultural and socio-ethnic backgrounds to promote the integrity of our nation as one united, indivisible entity”.
Gov. Ugwuanyi, therefore, informed the corps members that the orientation programme was designed to instill in them the leadership qualities of perseverance, endurance, discipline and peaceful co-existence with their fellow compatriots from different socio-cultural and religious background, stressing that “the success of every service year is dependent on the foundation laid during the orientation exercise”.
Identifying the empowerment of teeming youths as one of the key elements of his administration’s agenda, the governor commended the NYSC management for inserting the skills acquisition and entrepreneurship training into the orientation programme.
He therefore, advised the corps members to participate in the training and draw the maximum benefit to be self-reliant after the national service.
The governor equally promised that his administration will intervene on some of the challenges and needs of the NYSC state’s orientation camp, disclosing that the completion of the female hostel started by the previous administration, the renovation of the abandoned male hostel and the general upgrade of facilities in the camp were captured in the 2018 budget.
While commending the NYSC state coordinator, Ahmed Ikaka, for the development projects he has carried out since his assumption of office, the governor, who was informed of the problem of power outage in the orientation camp because of lack of distribution transformer directed the Enugu State Rural Electrification Board (REB) to restore supply of electricity to the camp immediately. He also promised to repair the mini-water scheme in the camp to boost water supply, among other interventions for the wellbeing of the corps members and staff of the establishment.
“The state government has been resolutely implementing policies aimed at equipping youths to optimize their capacity to drive national development. This informed the recent increment in the allowance of corps medical personnel in order to encourage them to serve in rural health centres where their service is mostly needed.
“The welfare of corps members is given priority by Enugu State government. That is why allowances of corps members are paid as at and when due. Very soon every corps member posted to the state institutions will enjoy an upward review of state allowance,” Gov. Ugwuanyi said.
In his address, the NYSC state coordinator, Mr Ikaka, who commended the governor for being physically present at the event, also applauded him for his support and assistance to the scheme.
He told the corps members that the orientation camp was “deliberately fashioned to afford you the opportunity to interact with your contemporaries from other cultural, social and economic backgrounds”, and urged them to take advantage of the scheme to promote national unity and integration, which he said was the basic goal of the NYSC.
