NYSC DG canvasses inter-tribal marriage among corps members

Afikpo (Ebonyi) - The National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC) has urged corps members from
different tribes of the country to inter-
marry as part of efforts to boost national
integration.
Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, the Director-
General of NYSC, made the appeal on
Saturday when he visited 2016 Batch A
(Stream II) corps members currently
undergoing their orientation programme at its
permanent site in Afikpo.
According to him, the essence of the scheme
is to ensure national integration which will
bring the desired unity that the country
earnestly desires.
“I enjoin you to inter-marry within the
orientation period to achieve this all important
objective, as it would only be achieved through
adequate bonding in the camp.
“The activities outlined during your orientation
programme such as military drills, skills
acquisition and sporting activities would help in
this regard and prepare you for life within
and after the service year,” he said.
The NYSC DG said that the need to sustain
national integration and coexistence was what
propelled the corps to organise the orientation
across the country in spite of the Ramadan
period.
“The Ramadan did not stop us from coming to
the camp, as I received lots of text messages
inquiring on the possibility of organising it with
the approach of the period.
“I insisted that the orientation programme be
organised and by God’s grace we are here and
would soon leave the camp,” he said.
He said that corps members would not be
posted to Ishiellu Local Government Area
(LGA) of the state.
He said this was because the LGA was the epic
centre of the quelled Ezza--Ezillo communal
war that claimed hundreds of lives and
destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
“We cannot post corps members until the
security situation in the area improves and we
have to be very sure that the environment is
secured for them.
“Corps members are also advised to be
security conscious and ensure that they go out
in the company of friends and colleagues
instead of going out alone,” he said.
Kazaure also enjoined the corps members to
pay special attention to skills acquisition to
enable them be self reliant on the completion
of their service year.
“I am happy with the condition of facilities I
met on ground but the corps members should
be aware that the camp is regimented and
does not give them excessive freedom to
operate,” he said.
Mrs Gladys Mbachi, the State Coordinator of
the scheme, informed the D-G that 1, 932
corps members were undergoing the
programme with 1, 346 males and 586
females.
“The corps members have been behaving well
since they arrived on camp and have aligned
themselves positively to the camp activities.
“We, however, have some health related issues
which have been adequately handled with a
corps member having mental problems while
three others have asthmatic cases,” she said.
Miss Praise Semilayare, a corps member from
Bayelsa, thanked the D-G for the visit, but
called for an increase in the monthly allowance
of N19, 500, saying that it was inadequate.