At least 60 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in different parts of the country died as a result of “frivolous journeys” in the last one year.

The NYSC Director-General (DG), Brigadier General Suleiman Zakari Kazaure, said this at the weekend while addressing corps members during his official visit at the NYSC permanent orientation camp at Wannune in Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State.

Kazaure warned corps members against making arbitrary journeys without the consent of either their state coordinators or the DG as the case may be.

He urged them to be security conscious in any environment they find themselves especially at their places of primary assignment.

The NYSC boss, who was represented by the Director of Legal Services, Mr. Ahmed Tijani Ibrahim, implored the corps members to promote cordial relationship with the host communities and to abstain from all forms of anti-social vices including sexual abuse, robbery and drug addiction. Kazaure warned that anyone caught in the act would face the full weight of the law.

He said: “Do not embark on unnecessary journeys. Any journey you want to embark on especially if it is outside the state, make sure you get the permission of the state coordinator and if it is outside Nigeria, get the permission of the DG because so many corps members are dying. Last year, we recorded not less than 60 deaths of corps members.”

The DG commended the state coordinator of the NYSC and other collaborative agencies for the way corps members are being handled and tasked her to sustain it.

Earlier, the state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Eno Herbert AwakEssien, expressed appreciation to the DG forum for the provision of a 100 KVA generator to address the perennial erratic power supply in the camp.

Awak Essien reaffirmed that the management of NYSC has developed a template towards ensuring strict compliance with global best practices in harnessing the human, material and financial resources entrusted in its care for the good of the scheme.

She listed a catalogue of her achievements in the last one year in the state to include the completion of the renovation of first phase of office blocks and the secretariat’s fence in Makurdi using the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), drilling of an additional borehole at the camp to boost water supply, empowerment of the Orientation Broadcasting Services with some state-of-the-art equipment, and improvement in the quality and quantity of food supply to the corps members in the camp among others. (New Telegraph)

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