Press Releases

Fashola Closes Orientation Of 1,829 NYSC Corpers In Lagos
• “As a government, we will give all support”, he pledges

Aug 25, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday formally closed the two-week Orientation Course of 1, 829 National Youths Service Corps members deployed to the State with a pledge that the State Government would provide necessary support to the corpers in their primary duties.

Governor Fashola who spoke at the closing ceremony of the NYSC 2009 Batch “B” Stream II Orientation Course held at the NYSC Temporary Orientation Camp in Iyana-Ipaja, said the State Government will absorb as many of them as possible in carrying out necessary responsibilities such as traffic control and management as well as environmental sanitation.

The Governor, who encouraged them to be good ambassadors in their places of primary assignment also appealed to the organizations to do all in their power to make their stay in the organizations a memorable one.

Recalling his days in the orientation camp about 20 years ago, Governor Fashola declared, “As you end the days in the orientation camp, I am certain that it is ending with some mixed feelings, and I believe these are the very deep traditions of the NYSC Orientation camp that must never die”.

“I am sure that when the postings came out, across the Federation, the feeling would be the same as it was in the beginning. ‘I don’t want to go there; I don’t know anybody in that state; I don’t know anybody in that camp’. But I am sure that at the time when the first bicycle allowances were paid and many of you discovered the mammy markets, those feeling immediately disappeared”, the Governor reminisced.

He thanked the Local Government Chairmen and Traditional Rulers in the area as well as all the sponsors who contributed in making the two weeks exercise a memorable one for the Corps members.

“I went through it, you have gone through it, many generations after you will go through it”, the Governor said adding that during his own time, he was the last to leave the camp on the day of the closing ceremony because of the deep feeling of togetherness during the exercise.

Commending the corps members who participated in the parade, Governor Fashola, who described the parade as one of the best he had seen for a long time, expressed joy that all the corps members have received their posting to their primary assignments and appealed to the organizations to which corpers have been posted “to take full responsibility and give every support they can to make the next eleven months that the corpers will stay with them a memorable period”.

He urged the Chairmen of local governments and Local Council Development Areas in the State to use the Youth Corpers to carry out as many of their responsibilities with regards to sanitation, with regards to healthcare as is feasible and possible.

In his address, the State Commissioner for Special Duties and Chairman Lagos State NYSC Governing Board, Dr. Tola Kasali said the NYSC Scheme was set up as direct response to eradicate and ameliorate the prejudices deeply held by the different ethnic groups against each other.

Admonishing the corps members to be good ambassadors in their different areas of primary assignment, Kasali also appealed to the organizations where the corpers are posted to accept them and assign challenging duties to them so that they could acquire the desired experience they need as they build a career.

Earlier in his welcome address, the State’s NYSC coordinator, Mr. Anthony Ani said out of the 1, 840 corps members registered in the two-week programme, eleven were relocated out of the State to other states on marital grounds.

According to him, the two-week course covered skills and physical training, Man O’War activities and motivational lectures on self-employment, road safety, emergency management techniques, HIV/AIDS and many more.

Also present at the occasion were the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Inumidun Akande, Members of the State Executive Council, former Directors and Coordinators of the camp, Traditional Rulers and other top government functionaries as well as party chiefs.