The Director General, DG, of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brig. Gen Y.D. Ahmed has charged the employers and stakeholders to make welfare of corps members posted to serve in their establishment paramount.
The DG Ahmed made this call yesterday while officially commissioning the multi-million naira corpers Lodge at community secondary school Ihe, Awgu Local government area of Enugu state.
The DG represented by Enugu State coordinator, Mrs Christiana Salmwang commended the community for their magnanimity in building a befitting lodge for corps members serving in Ihe Secondary School and the adjoining communities.
While urging other employers of corp members to emulate the good work and kind gesture of Dr Mmadueke Ekoh and team, stated that accommodation for corps members is very vital to their settling down and giving their very best in their places of primary assignment.
“On behalf of the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Y.D. Ahmed I wish to once more express my profound gratitude to the Ihe Community through its Community Secondary School Ihe Project Development Fund for deeming it necessary to carry out such a project of immense magnitude that will ensure that corps members posted to the school for their primary assignment are properly accommodated and secured.
“The Director General has been properly briefed about this project and he is very pleased with the initiative. As we know, accommodation for corps members is very vital to their settling down and giving their very best in their places of primary assignment.
“It is in the light of this, that the Director General deems it fit to show appreciation and recognition of the effort of the community and has graciously written a Certificate of Appreciation as well as a gift to the good people of lhe community.
“I wish to use this opportunity to call on other corps employers and stakeholders to emulate the good work and kind gesture of the Community Secondary School by devising means and working towards making the welfare of corps members posted to their institution and communities paramount,” he said.
Earlier in his open remark, the Chairman of the event, Prof. Martin Anikwe, said launching of the lodge, was part of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of achieving qualitative education in the community.
He said members of the community decided to put the edifice in place to support smooth bringing of corp members to educate the students of the community.
“People from the community and old boys came together to renovate and build the lodge to make sure we get quality education.
“We discovered that engaging corps members will be an instrument in improving the standard of education in our community, adding that with the projects students from our community whether rich or poor can attain their goals in life,” Anikwe said.
Speaking also, Emmanuel Nweke, the Chairman Committee Project Development Fund for the Secondary School, said the lodge was one of the numerous projects the fund team built in the school.
According to him, the community built eight modern toilet, two boreholes with electrical and solar power, planted economic trees such as 1, 460 palm trees and over 70 pears and coconut trees round the school.
He commended Dr Madueke Ekoh, a member of the community for donating more than 70 per cent money used in the project.
“With the entire project in the school, we spent over N100 million to actualize it. As were building the lodge, there was need for fencing to protect it and the school premises and to safeguard them, we recruited six security men.
“We equipped the lodge by putting everything that is needful, such as leather cushion, tables, television, freezers and gas cylinder and cooker for each room, wardrobes, modern cupboards, foams, DSTV, solar light to complement electricity, big generator and food stuffs.
“The building has six rooms self contain rooms to make corpers comfortable as they stay here, adding that we are currently constructing football field, lawn tennis and volleyball pitches,” he said.
A corp member, John Issuma, who heads the lodge, described the lodge as ‘unexpected’.
He said, “I regretted when I was posted to this village but seeing this lodge, I was happy because some of my colleagues out there has no accommodation”.