NYSC Director-General, Brig. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim has commended the press for their robust partnership in giving wide publicity to the activities and programmes of the Scheme.
He said the outgoing year has been memorable with lots of activities.
Ibrahim stated this today during an interactive session with youth correspondents at NYSC National Directorate Headquarters in Abuja.
Represented by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, the Director-General also lauded the security agencies nationwide for conscientiously and assiduously protecting Corps Members especially during the recent Gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States.
‘The health of Corps Members is of great essence to the Scheme and to safeguard it, we are re-strategising with the National Health Insurance Scheme in order to ensure that Corps Members are covered by the NHIS’.
‘We are leaving no stone unturned in protecting the sanctity of the NYSC by weeding out unqualified elements, dubiously seeking to be part of the Scheme with the intent of validating their forged certificates’, the DG added.
Speaking further, the DG said his administration would continue to pursue his five point agenda with vigour.
He stated that NYSC management’s determination to look inwards in the funding of the NYSC Scheme has reinvigorated and resuscitated NYSC ventures such as the Garment Factories in Minna, Niger State, Mgbakwu in Anambra, NYSC Rice Farms in Kwali, Abuja and another one in Iseyin, Oyo State.
‘On Corps Members’ welfare, we have ensured refund of medical expenses incurred by them, while ensuring prompt visits to some sick ones, as well as accident victims whose hospital bills are usually underwritten’.
‘It may interest you to know that the Scheme shall be spending a whopping N32m to purchase smart prosthetic limbs for a Corps Member that lost his right hand in the course of travelling to his place of primary assignment in Taraba State’, General Ibrahim said.”
The DG hinted that in 2020, NYSC radio station would come on air in order to give a boost to the Scheme’s publicity drive while the welfare of staff and Corps Members would also be held in high esteem.
In her welcome address ,the NYSC Director of Press and Public Relations ,Mrs Adenike Adeyemi who was represented by an Assistant Director in the directorate, Mr Mgbemena Emeka said the relationship between the scheme and media has been topnotch and the adequate media coverage enjoyed by the NYSC was impressive
She urged the media to continually smoothen the existing relationship in order to remove identified rough edges that arise time to time.
” Let me with sense of responsibility convey to you ,my dear colleagues in the pen profession that as members of this great family, our door remains wide open for you to seek clarification on any issue ,no matter how contentious it may be,so as to always have a balanced reportage, devoid of any tint of parochialism and mischief.
In the course of duty ,we have had occasions to disagree on your angle of focus on some stories ,particularly, when such have not been duly verified before rushing to the press .
Conversely we have always applauded you whenever your jobs are carried out with respect to professional ethics,and I urge you to continue in that positive light.”
