News

Kogi To Reward Excellent Corps Members During Service-Gov Ododo

Published

11 months ago

March 6, 2024

Joel Ajayi

Kogi State Government has urged Corps Members deployed to the State to leave indelible footprints of development in different sectors as agents of social change.

It said the present administration would reward any Corps Member that shows outstanding performance in his place of primary assignment.

The State Governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo stated this today in his address at the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Batch ‘A’ Stream One Orientation Course held at NYSC Kogi State Orientation Camp, Asaya, Kabba.

“Be rest assured that excellent performances would be duly recognized and rewarded at the end of the service year by our administration.

I also want to assure you that we would provide adequate security and welfare for you”, the Governor said.

He urged the Corps Members to comply with the custom and traditions of their host communities.

Ododo also advised them to avoid hate speeches and other tendencies capable of promoting unrest within the State and beyond.

Speaking further, he counseled the Corps Members to use the trainings they received in camp to re-orientate themselves for the tasks ahead, even beyond their period of national service.

He commended them for the high level of discipline, comportment and maturity they displayed during the 21days Orientation period.

The Governor, who was represented at the ceremony by his Deputy, Comrade Salisu Oyibo charged the Corps Members to utilize the entrepreneurship skills they learnt in camp to become employers of labour.

He implored them to leave good legacies in Kogi State “in the areas of healthcare, campaign on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, healthcare delivery, sustainable development goals, agriculture, education, rural development among others”.

He appealed to Corps Employers in the State to provide the necessary welfare and conducive environment for the Corps Members as this would encourage them to contribute immensely to the development of the State.

In her address, the NYSC Kogi State Coordinator, Mrs Mofoluwaso Williams said the Corps Members have been exposed to para-military drills, skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development training, citizenship and leadership trainings as well as inspirational lectures on self actualization and development.

She advised the Corps Members to proceed to their places of Primary Assignment and translate the knowledge acquired in their institutions of higher learning and the trainings received while in camp to improve the lives of the people in their host communities.

The Coordinator advised them to obey all the NYSC rules and regulations as they were told in camp adding that erring Corps Members would be punished as spelt out in the NYSC Byelaws.

“You are advised to accept your postings in good faith as any Corps Member who induce rejection would be punished in line with the NYSC byelaws, and any employer who collude with them would be blacklisted.

I urge all Corps Employers in Kogi State to accept Corps Members posted to them and give them good welfare packages.
If you have genuine reason to travel, you must obtain permission through the proper channel”, Williams added.

While speaking to the press after the programme, the Director General of National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General YD Ahmed urged the Corps Members to serve as good ambassadors of their schools, families and NYSC.

He added that adequate security has been provided for their safety throughout the service year.

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

2 hours ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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