The Abia State Coordinator of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Ufuoma Dick-Iruenabere, has appealed to the Abia State Government and good-spirited individuals to urgently rescue the agency from infrastructural and architectural decay troubling the state Permanent Orientation Camp at Umunnato, Bende LGA.
The coordinator made the appeal at the camp on Friday, during the swearing-in ceremony of Batch 11 Stream 2 members of the NYSC in the state, comprising 999 corps members at the time of swearing-in
She regretted that orientation camp, which was constructed in 2006 and handed over to NYSC in 2007, has been severely affected by gully erosion, which has damaged some of the camp’s facilities, including the parade ground, male hostel, and staff quarters.
Dick-Iruenabere said that the situation has led to the loss of valuable camp space, cracks in some of the walls of the buildings, and a huge risk to the safety and well-being of corps members during orientation programmes.
She called for immediate intervention to implement erosion control measures in the camp and prevent further damage to the camp’s infrastructure.
“Furthermore, the state NYSC secretariat is in dire need of renovation and upgrade to create a conducive and functional administrative environment for the staff. The current secretariat lacks adequate office space, utilities, and overall infrastructure, which hampers the efficient delivery of NYSC programmes and services in the state.
“The state coordinator’s residence is in need of repairs and improvements.
“We therefore appeal to the State Government, under the youth-loving Governor of Abia State, Alex Chioma Otti, to please come to our rescue, if possible, consider the option of relocating camp to a more conducive environment.
“While we appreciate the fact that your administration is new and is grappling with a lot of infrastructural deficits in the face of hard economic realities, we do hope that our needs will be accommodated for prompt attention,” the NYSC Abia State Coordinator passionately appealed.
In his address to the newly sworn-in corps members, Governor Alex Otti charged them to use the opportunity of the orientation camp and their service in Abia to improve themselves for the future and also to tap into different opportunities in the state.
Otti, whose address was read out by Temple Nwosu, a senior staff of the state’s ministry of youths and sports, assured that his administration would ensure that it improves on the assistance given to the NYSC in Abia.
The governor lauded the sacrifices of the NYSC members in the development of their host communities and extolled their roles in unity, and nation-building since its establishment many years ago.
