IMO Gov. Rochas Okorocha on Thursday doled out a cash of N15.42 million to the 2017 Batch A, Stream 1 corps members deployed to the state as parting gift.

Okorocha made the cash donation at the passing out ceremony of the 1,542 corps members held at the Heroes Square, Owerri.

He said the donation was in appreciation of the commitment and dedication of the corps members during their service year.

He said that the NYSC in the state has made significant contributions to the success story of his Rescue Misson Initiative.

The governor said that the corps members diligence, high sense of responsibility and exceptional determination displayed in their places of primary assignments, contributed to the socio-economic development of the state.

He advised the corps members to utilise what they had learnt during the service year to become entreprenuers and employers of labour.

Okorocha also advised them to be good ambassadors of the state and Nigeria at large wherever they found themselves.

“As you pass out from the scheme, I enjoin you to avoid mingling with mischief makers and other unpatriotic elements in the country that propagate terrorism, drug peddling, human trafficking and Advance Fee Fraud as a means of livelihood,” he said.

He promised to provide additional accommodation to the scheme in the state that would house more than 2,000 corps members.

The governor also gave a cash award of N200,000 and automatic employment to the overall best outgoing corps member to any place of her choice.

The State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs Josephine Bakare, said that a total of 1,542 corps members, comprising 615 male and 927 female were deployed to the state.

Bakare said that the outgoing corps members contributed to the socio-economic development of the state by carrying out enlightenment programmes extra-mural classes as well as skills acquisition programmes in various communities.

She commended the Imo Governnent for its unflinching support to the scheme.

According to her, the Okorocha-led government had almost completed a twin-storey hostel building at the NYSC permanent orientation camp.

Bakare urged the corps members not to forget all the knowledge, experience and skills they had acquired through the skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development programme of the scheme.

She disclosed that two corps members died in the course of the programme.

She added that while a corp member was rewarded for being outstanding, four others would be repeating the service year for absconding and six would have extension of between one and six months according to NYSC rule.

NAN reports that the high point of the event was the presentation of wheelchairs to three indigent and disabled persons from the three zones of the state by the Imo NYSC as part of its corporate social responsibility.

The scheme also thanked the Old Boys Association of King Jaja College, Amaigbo, for building a three-bedroom corps members lodge at their Alma mater and urged other organisations and employers to emulate them.

– Apr. 12, 2018 @ 19:17 GMT |