The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Coordinator in Oyo State, Mrs Grace Ogbuogebe, described how outgone Corps members helped the state during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ogbuogebe stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 2019 Batch C, Stream I corps members’ passing out in Ibadan.
She, however, lauded the patience, patriotism and unique contributions of the outgoing corps members towards preventing the spread of the virus in the state.
Ogbuogebe said that some of the corps members responded positively to the call by the NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, at the beginning of the pandemic for sensitisation and production of COVID-19 preventive materials.
She noted that the corps members produced materials, such as face masks, hand washing materials, hand sanitiser and automated hand washing equipment.
The state coordinator stated that 15 out of the total of 5,752 corps members passing out in the state, comprising 3,384 females and 2,368 males, would receive recommendation letters, while one member received honours award.
“We have 48 marriages and child birth; eight among Streams 1 and 2 for remobilisation; 15 for extension due to absenteeism, absconding and other related offences, while three died, regrettably.
“We express our profound gratitude to God for securing the lives of these outgoing members, especially during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was indeed a challenging moment for the scheme, but we thank God for seeing us through,” she said.
Ogbuogebe advised the outgoing corps members to sustain the attitude of hard work, self-discipline, patriotism and loyalty, which the scheme had instilled in them during the service year.
She also urged them to further improve on the skills already acquired through the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, for the actualisation of their dreams and aspirations.
“We sincerely wish them the best in their future endeavours,” Ogbuogebe said.
The coordinator, while acknowledging the support of the Oyo State government towards the NYSC programmes in the state, commended the people of the state for warmly welcoming the corps members. (NAN)
