3,100 corps members redeployed from Kano, Plateau, Gombe

THE total of 3,100 corps members were redeployed from violence-prone Kano, Gombe and Plateau states, the National Youth Service Corps said as the 2012 Batch ‘B’ orientation camp closing ceremonies took place across the country on Monday.

One thousand three hundred of the 2,560 corps members posted to Kano sought redeloyment while no fewer than 1,000 of the 1,687 deployed in Gombe, and 802 of the 1,750 in Plateau were redeployed to other states.
The posting of some southerners to the troubled North was greeted by protests, but it took the new graduates security guarantees by the Federal Government to accept their posting.
Speaking in Kano, the state NYSC Coordinator Alhaji Salisu Yakasai, said the corps members insisted on redeployment, despite the heavy security presence in the camp during the three-week orientation programme.
But Rabiu Kwankwaso said he was happy that the corps members who stayed back enjoyed the programme.
Coordinator of the scheme in Plateau, Mr. Maram Mafulul, said in Jos the 802 that sought redeployment included married women, pregnant, nursing mothers and the sick.
He however said 30 of them later opted to serve in the state.
Governor Jonah Jang represented by the State Commissioner for Youth Development, Lohfa Bako, at the closing ceremony, assured the corps members in the state of protection.
In Gombe, the Coordinator of the scheme, Mr. Igyuse Teryima, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview after the passing out ceremony that the affected members applied for redeployment.
Speaking in Asaya-Kabba, Kogi State Governor Idris Wada urged corps members to embrace self-reliance as a tool for socio-economic development of the nation.
Wada, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Mr Isah Aliu, said the orientation was to equip corps member with practical, social and leadership skills to face future challenges.
His Kwara State counterpart, Abdulfatah Ahmed, said his administration had put adequate security measures in place to protect corps members in the state.
In her remarks, the state Coordinator of the scheme, Mrs. Ezinne Ezekwe, commended the governor for contributing N1.8m to the feeding as well as providing two tankers, an ambulance and the giving the former North Central I Area Office to the NYSC.
On her part, the Minister of State for FCT, Ms Olajumoke Akinjide, in Abuja urged corps members to serve as role models and be patriotic in the course of the service year.
Akinjide, who was represented by the Chairman of the NYSC Governing Board, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, called on corps members to be selfless and patriotic during the service as “many emerging developing nations are driven by the energies of their youths”.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has advised new NYSC members in the state to use the martial arts skills imbibed during their orientation course for self-defence only.
Speaking in Iseyin, Ajimobi said martial arts skills should not encourage fighting in public.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Moses Adeyemo, also directed all the 33 local governments in the state to provide adequate security for corps members.
Taraba Coordinator, NYSC Mrs. Zainab Isah, urged corps members to use skills acquired during the orientation course to create jobs in their host communities.

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