Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, said on Wednesday that collaboration between the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given credibility to Nigeria’s elections, Igbere TV reports.
Gowon made this assertion in an address delivered on his behalf by General Ahmadu Ali, pioneer director-general of the scheme, at a sensitisation workshop on the National Youth Service Corps Act, CAP. N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, Igbere TV reports.
While listing the achievements of the scheme, the former head of state said its “collaboration with INEC has given credibility to our elections.”
Some other achievements of the NYSC, according to Gowon, include: “National unity has been achieved by the deployment of corps participants to states other than their states of origin;“The scheme has contributed to so much in the educational development of the country;
“In the health sector, the contributions of the scheme to our health care delivery cannot be quantified;
“The scheme is involved in Legal Aid work, rendering pro bono Legal services to the indigent members of the society.”Gowon said though the original enabling statute was repealed by Decree 51 of June 16, 1993, which is now National Youth Service Corps Act CAP. N84, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, “the objectives of the Act have remained constant and very relevant to the contemporary challenges of our dear nation Nigeria.”
According to him, the establishment of the scheme was not misplaced.
He said: “I am very proud to note that the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps in 1973 by my administration was not misplaced, judging from the laudable achievements of the scheme.”
