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Use Orientation Camp Knowledge to Enhance Nigeria’s Growth, NYSC Charges Corpers
Joel Ajayi
The National Youth Service Corps has advised the corps members and camp participants in the just concluded orientation exercise to use the knowledge, experiences acquired and lessons learnt during the three weeks of Orientation Course to contribute their quota to national development and also add value to themselves.
To this end, the scheme also advised them to avoid risky adventures such as unauthorised journeys, night partying and other types of misconduct as they proceed to their place of primary assignments.
NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, who stated this today in a nationwide virtual address to Corps Members and Camp participants also emphasised that there is nothing like two weeks leave for Corps Members after leaving the Orientation Camp.
The DG in particular warned the Corps Members to be security conscious and avoid any act that can put their lives at risk in their respective places of primary assignment and host communities.
“I want to warn you that there is nothing like two weeks leave after Orientation Course. Settle down in your places of primary assignments.
As you leave the camp, you must be security conscious, don’t travel at night and don’t endanger your safety.
Shun cybercrimes, drugs, cultism and don’t let your actions today haunt you tomorrow”, he said.
He advised them to continue with the post-camp training of the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme with their trainers in order to be self empowered, instead of seeking for the unavailable salary jobs.
Ibrahim added that the Scheme is advocating with the Federal Government for the establishment of NYSC Trust Fund (NYSCTF) that would make start-up capital available to every Corps Member as they exit service, which would enable them establish their businesses in line with the skills they acquired through SAED.
The DG also informed them that the Scheme had partnered relevant institutions like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Access Bank, Unity Bank among others to provide soft loans for Corps Members with good business proposals to establish their vocational businesses.
He advised the Corps Members to study the NYSC Act, NYSC Bye-laws and adhere strictly to the provisions, adding that every infraction would attract appropriate sanction.
The DG urged them to use the Social Media wisely to promote the unity of the country, and not to spread rumour.
Speaking further, he admonished the Corps Members to emulate their predecessors, who during the ourtbreak of COVID-19 pandemic offered selfless services by producing sanitisers, face masks, pedal operated water and sanitiser dispensers, free online extra- mural classes, among others, to cushion the effects of the pandemic and lockdown on members of the public.
He urged them to feel the pulse of their host communities and intiate laudable projects that would ameliorate their suffering, improve their standard of living and also give them a new lease of life.
General lbrahim also warned that presentation of fake medical papers for redeployment attracts sanctions.
He said posting, redeployment and other services rendered by the NYSC attracts no fee, adding that anyone caught offering bribe would be sanctioned appropriately with the taker.
He appealed to the Corps Members to embrace the Federal Government’s gesture of free COVID-19 vaccine and be vaccinated in order to protect themselves.
In a vote of thanks on behalf of her colleagues nationwide, the Kebbi State Corps Camp Director, Bankole Shukurat Abiodun KB/21C/0304 appreciated the DG for his purposeful and coordinated leadership style of administration which has made the Scheme more relevant.
She said the NYSC over the years has been inculcating the spirit of teamwork, nation building and self- reliance among the Nigerian youths.
She disclosed that the knowledge and skills acquired during the three- week Orientation Course would be effectively used to become self reliant and job creators.
“The Orientation Course has afforded us the opportunity to learn leadership skills, para-military drills, security tips, martial arts, entrepreneurship skills, all geared towards making us responsible future leaders.
We promise to be law-abiding and good ambassadors of the NYSC and the nation at large, and we shall justify the confidence reposed in us”, she said.
Featured
Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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