The Director-General (DG), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Yusha Ahmed has appealed to the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) to prioritise the security and welfare of corp members posted to their areas.
The DG of NYSC made the call on Friday in Lafia, Nasararawa State while addressing the National Executive Council Members (NEC) of ALGON.
The association held its 48th NEC meeting in Lafia capital of Nasararawa State.
The DG said that the visit to the association was part of his effort to strengthen the collaboration with critical stakeholders for the success of their activities.
“It is our firm belief that the success of the activities of NYSC depends largely on the effective collaboration and participation of all the critical stakeholders including chairmen of area councils.
“In this regard therefore, it is the deliberate policy of the present management of the scheme under me to embark on advocacy to the critical stakeholders, which is why I am here today,” the DG added.
He explained that the contribution of the Local Government Councils is critical to the success of the scheme because the majority of the corp members across the country are serving in the local government councils.
He added that some local government councils over the years had supported and still supported the scheme greatly in the areas of accommodations and welfare of corp members and other logistical supports.
He however said that regrettably a lot of area councils do not pay attention to issues concerning the corp members.
He appealed that the leadership of the association should impress on their colleagues across the country to support corp members with accommodations and provide them with welfare support to make their stay worthwhile.
He also said area councils should provide befitting offices to their local government Inspectors as well as means of transportation for proper inspection to ensure better and quality service delivery.
The NYSC DG, therefore, assured that they would ensure that the corp members continued to intervene in the areas of health, education, infrastructures, agriculture, sanitation, and traffic among others through their robust community development service.
Responding on behalf of the association, Ahj. Aminu Muazu-Maifata, ALGON President appreciated the DG for reminding them of their responsibilities to complement the Federal Government and the scheme.
Muazu-Maifata who is the ALGON chairman in Nasararawa State and chairman of Lafia, assured that the association would do the needful to ensure the smooth running of the scheme.
He assured the DG that they would deliberate on the issues he has raised to improve their commitments to NYSC. (NAN).