The Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Ondo State, Mr. Samuel Amaramiro Pepple, has lamented decaying facilities at the corps orientation camp located at Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area.
The Coordinator has therefore appealed to the state Governor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to intervene in the situation.
Pepple decried the state of the facilities on Monday at the NYSC zonal office, Oda Road in Akure while familiarising with journalists upon his assumption of office as the 21st state NYSC coordinator.
However, the NYSC coordinator, who appreciated the commitment of the state government to ensure the welfare of residents, including the corps members, passionately appealed to the state government to address the infrastructure deficit in the camp.
He said: “Ondo State is one of the oldest states in Nigeria. I can tell you that the facilities in that camp are old. Let’s say it the way it is, they’re very old.
“I am just new here, but I know; I’m trying to talk to the state government because the provisions of orientation camps is actually the statutory duties of state governments as enshrined in the NYSC Act. So I’m passionately trying to let them see the need for its upgrade.
“During the last orientation camp, I took the state Commissioner for Youths, Hon Saka Yusuf Ogunleye, round the camp to see how old the camp is, so that the state government can come in and do some refurbishing. So, it’s really an old camp but that’s what we have.”
Speaking on the 2024 Batch ‘B’ Stream I Orientation Course commencing on June 26, 2024, the NYSC coordinator said adequate security measures have been put in place towards ensuring the protection of corps members during orientation periods-in their lodges and in other NYSC formations.
“We’ve talked with security agencies; mapping the routes prospective corps members will follow. So, we’ve done our homework like we always do. I’ve been interacting with the Director of DSS, the state Commissioner of Police, the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps).
“Besides, we just came back from pre-orientation workshop. Before we start an orientation programme, a relation course will first take place before we start mobilisation process.
“After the mobilisation process, we do deployment, and the pre-orientation. So, we do pre-mobilisation which involves workshop and cutting all grey areas. We now come to pre-orientation proper, and we are ready for the orientation. They call it workshop but for me, it’s more than that.
“At this stage, all the collaborating agencies, including NYSC staff, security agencies and others, will set strategies and modalities ahead of the orientation camp. That is exactly what we’ve done and everything is ready to ensure a successful orientation camp.”
Responding, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Prince Leke Adegbite, assured the NYSC coordinator of the union’s support.
Represented by the Secretary of the Union, Mr. Olaoluwa Meshack, Prince Adegbite described the media professionals in Ondo State as friendly and development-oriented.
