19th NYSC Director-General Resumes Duties, Pledges To Sustain Legacies

BY EDMOND ODOK – Brigadier-General Mohammed Fada on Wednesday assumed office as the 19 Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with a pledge to sustain the vision of the scheme’s founding fathers targeted at uniting the country.

Brigadier-General Fada, who hails from Yobe State, took over from Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim at a ceremony in Abuja, also promising to build on the achievements and legacies of his predecessors in office.

Speaking at the occasion, the Army General said; “The outgoing NYSC DG has left a very big shoe for me to fill and I hope to work hard to fit into it. For all the ongoing projects, I will ensure that they get completed. All his legacies will be maintained.”

Urging the staff to cooperate with him and shun involvement in shady deals and immoral activities, including gossip, the new NYSC boss said with their support, the scheme would be taken to greater heights.

In his remarks at a farewell parade held in his honour, outgone Director-General, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim appealed for the quick passage of the NYSC Trust Fund bill.

Noting that the bill, which has reached an advanced stage of legislation, will strengthen the operations of the scheme, General Ibrahim said like funds in other sectors, the NYSC Trust Fund will address infrastructural and other logistic needs for the smooth conduct of orientation courses, provision of corps lodges, transit camps and other essential facilities for the welfare of corps members.

He also urged the new Director-General as well as the NYSC staff to make the welfare and protection of the corps members their priority.

Created on May 22, 1973, by the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon, NYSC was meant to serve as an avenue for the reconciliation, reconstruction, and rebuilding of the nation after the Nigerian Civil War that lasted for more than three years.

In establishing the NYSC, Decree No. 24, which was repealed and replaced by Decree 51 of 16th June 1993, states that the scheme was created “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity.”