Why NYSC held a lowkey passing out parade nationwide – Director General

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has held back this year’s annual passing out and winding up ceremony held for outgoing corps members nationwide to ensure their safety.

Sule Kazaure, the NYSC Director-General, said this while addressing the 2015 Batch ‘B’ Stream I set of corps members during their passing out on Thursday at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Kubwa, Abuja.

Represented by Adewoye Omotayo, the NYSC FCT Coordinator, Mr. Kazaure said the management of the scheme also held back the yearly ceremony due to current economic challenges facing the country.

“It was a decision made to ensure that all corps members remain safe. On a day like this there is usually a lot of movement of corps members and to prevent any problem from arising we decided to hold back any ceremony.

“The ceremony was also stepped down nationwide because the 2015 Batch B set of corps members were divided into streams I and II. We cannot hold double ceremonies for them just a few weeks apart,” Mr. Kazaure, a Brigadier General, said.

However, he urged the outgoing corps members to remain focused on becoming self reliant and self sustaining.

The director-general advised them to put into practice all the skills and entrepreneurship training they received during their one year of national service.

He also enjoined the corps members to continue to be good ambassadors of their homes, institutions and the country.

Mr. Kazaure urged them not to rely on government jobs but strive to utilise the skills they learnt and become employers of labour in the nearest future.

He reminded the corps members not to think that their service to the nation had ended, urging them to go out and affect the society positively.

According to him, a total of 7,298 corps members are expected to pass out of the service year in the 2015 Batch B.

“For now, only the 2015 Batch B stream I is passing out and they are 4,080.

“The rest of them who are in the 2015 Batch B stream II will pass out on Nov. 4, 2016.

“About 65 of them will not be passing out due to one reason or the other. These corps members are likely to face an extension of their service year.

“One corps member died during the service year from an auto crash. Some corpers distinguished themselves by embarking on developmental projects during the service year; they will be honoured by the FCT Minister in November,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the outgoing corps members in the FCT were asked to assemble at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp to receive their certificates of national service.