The Edo State Government has directed that all members of the National Youth Service Corps posted to the state will henceforth be deployed in schools and health institutions and a few other establishments where their skills will be maximally utilised.
The state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, made this known on Thursday at a one-day “Orientation Programme to equip Corps Members on Delivery of Essential Services to Rural Communities.”
According to the governor, for the country to move forward and fast track development, there is the need for re-orientation in terms of values, thinking and strategy, saying we must remind ourselves that as long as Nigeria is a collection of people who consume what they can not produce, unemployment will still persist.
He said: “Our country is facing a number of challenges and too many seemed to have given up. Even the political class seemed to be confused.
“You read newspaper everyday, people are calling for one conference or the other. Nigeria spends too much time talking and very little time producing. People think that they can prefect how to share and ensure that we are equal in poverty. As young people, you must challenge those of us in leadership that we must begin to think about a dialogue about production, how to create wealth, how to bring our industries back, how to convert Nigeria to become a producing nation rather than a consuming nation. How we can reconcile our sophisticated consumption to our primitive production method. How we can orientate our consumption so that we consume only what we produce. Unless and until we do that, even if we can partition the country into 150 states, every human being having his own state or you reunite us into a unitary state, all of that will make no difference.”
He argued that the young ones must insist that the refineries must work, adding that when these institutions are working, there is the opportunity for good jobs.
He added: “As young people, you must engage us on the main issue. When we divert attention as the North and the South are doing, as if the problem of the North is caused by the South or the South believes that the problem of the South is caused by the North, you as young people must build the bridge and ask the right questions. Whether in the North or the South poverty is universal. It has complete federal character. Hunger has federal character.” The governor noted that unless we reinvest in the quality of our human capital Nigeria is not likely to make progress, saying what is not discussed is the quality of the human capital.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Anita Evbuomwan, said the government’s new policy on posting of youth corps members to schools will benefit the rural communities.
He said in order to maximise the benefit of the policy, “it has been considered necessary to orientate corps members posted to the state on the content of this new policy. It is quite obvious that quite a number of you may not have had the experience of teaching before now, hence it will be necessary for this type of orientation so that you will have little or no difficulty in discharging this national responsibility.”
She thanked the governor for the support to the scheme, adding that the resource persons for the lectures have been carefully selected to ensure that the corps members get full value of the orientation programme.