The Enugu State Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mrs Gladys Adama, on Wednesday said the scheme has contributed to the development of Nigeria, especially Enugu State.
Adama disclosed this during a five-kilometer walk to commemorate the NYSC 50th Anniversary in Enugu.
She said that the scheme had provided manpower for all the sectors and for those in rural areas in the state, thereby contributing to the nation’s and state’s economy and development.
“The NYSC has come a long way in uniting the nation and today, we are celebrating NYSC @50 and showcasing its remarkable achievements it has made in Nigeria and Enugu State since 1973.
“It is a historical event for the country as the scheme has gone a long way in uniting and developing Nigeria and its federating states,” she said.
She said that in the area of health, the corps members have contributed immensely as they have Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD).
“Apart from the medical personnel in rural hospitals, we have what we call HIRD, where we massively gather our medical corps members to go to rural areas where there are no enough health facilities, we go there with our drugs and the rural dwellers are treated free of charge.
“Also in the area of education, many schools including primary, secondary and tertiary institutions rely on corps members and with their education services, the corps members are taking the younger generations to the next level,” she said.
The coordinator added that in the area of legal aid, the corps members usually go to prisons and police stations to carry out pro-bono services.
According to her, the use of corps members during election is credible as they are apolitical.
Adama explained that the statistics for the school feeding program was accurately gathered with the help of the corps members.
She said that the scheme had sincerely achieved its purpose, adding that it had brought about discipline among the youths and exposed them to other cultures and traditions as most of the corps members serving in Enugu State were mainly from the West, North and South.
Some corps members said that the scheme had exposed them to other people’s culture, especially on their language and types of foods.
Miss Sonia Amarachi said it was a wonderful experience for her to serve in Enugu, adding that the scheme had exposed her to the culture of Enugu people.
Another corps member, Mr John Ezechi, said he had benefited from the scheme because of the leverage he was enjoying in the state.
The corps members, led by their coordinators, Mr Chinwedu Chukwu, the South-East NYSC coordinator and Mrs Gladys Adama, Enugu State Coordinator, embarked on a five-kilometer walk within Enugu to commemorate the 50th anniversary day celebration.
