Admin l Monday, June 07, 2021
IKARE-AKOKO, Ondo, Nigeria – The Executive Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN) has called on the Nigerian youths especially the corps members to protect the unity of the country fought for by our great heroes at independence.
Arakunrin Akeredolu made the call during the Terminal Parade/Closing ceremony for the 2021 Batch ‘A’ (Stream II) corps members deployed to Ondo State and their counterparts dislodged from Lagos State.
The Governor who was represented by the Ondo State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Victoria Nnenna Ani congratulated the NYSC Scheme on its forty eight years anniversary and the corps members for being part of history.
“I wish to congratulate the NYSC Family nationwide for attaining the milestone of forty eight years, and the corps members for being part of history. Let me remind you that the unity of this country is sacrosanct and non negotiable, and I want to implore you to preach oneness in all the places you will be posted to”.
He urged the corps members to be security conscious and enjoined them to flee from all negative acts that could tarnish the good image built by their predecessors.
“Your predecessors made a sacrifice that has endeared the Scheme in the hearts of all and sundry. I hope you will not disappoint the citizens of this country who have implicit trust in your capabilities to serve the nation relentlessly”.
“The three weeks orientation course programme that you actively participated in is designed for all of you to contribute meaningfully to the overall development of this great country as you go to your various places of primary assignment”.
Akeredolu reminded the members of the service corps that NYSC, in its struggle to ensure national development and cohesion, has instilled the value of patriotism, integrity, hard work, unity amongst them during the orientation exercise and noted that values that will be useful to them have been entrenched in the orientation course content.
“The three weeks induction is primarily meant to equip you to have better understanding of the operations of the Scheme. It is also to toughen and prepare you physically and mentally to meet the challenges ahead, especially in your new found culture and environment”.
“It is expected that you will cultivate a healthy relationship with your host communities. There is need for you to integrate and appreciate the culture and traditions of the people, while at the same time encouraging you to live peacefully with them and refrain from engaging in local politics”.
The Governor admonished them to impact positively on the host communities and transfer the knowledge acquired during the skill acquisition training to better their lots and stem the tide of youth unemployment in our society.
He expressed satisfaction with the compliance level of COVID -19 protocols and appealed to the corps members not to lower their guards as they prepare for the second phase of the cardinal programmes of NYSC Scheme.
“You are aware that the statistics is gradually increasing again and I plead with you to make sacrifice that will flatten the curve of the novel Coronavirus pandemic otherwise known as COVID -19” he said.
He commended the contributions of the management of NYSC and all the stakeholders for ensuring that the corps members were properly groomed and monitored during the orientation course. In all, 1339 corps members registered for service in Ondo State out of which 473 secured relocation approval to continue with their service in other states of the federation while 254 dislodged from Lagos State participated in the three weeks orientation at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Ikare-Akoko.
