1,647 corps members sworn-in at Oyo

By Kayode Afolabi, Ibadan

A total number of 1,647 corps members posted to Oyo state have been sworn-in at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp Iseyin, Oyo State on Tuesday. 

The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Murktar Abimbola, who was represented  by Justice Iyabode Yerima administered oath of allegiance to 1,647 corps members where 797 are male while 850 are female

Addressing the Corps members,  at the swearing-in ceremony for the Batch C Stream 1, the Director General, NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim who was represented by the Oyo state Coordinator of NYSC, Mrs Grace Ogbuogebe urged the Corps members to take the vocational and skill acquisition and development programme of the scheme very serious as it would enable them to become self reliant. 

"It is no longer news that white collar jobs are hard to come by. For this reason, the empowerment of Corps members for self-employment and wealth creation has been a major area of focus for the Scheme since 2012. 

"You will from this moment be availed of that opportunity through our Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme. I am happy to inform you that many of your predecessors, who embraced vocational and entrepreneurial training on the SAED platform, are now successful business 

owners. 

"I, therefore, encourage you to stay off the long queue of job seekers by choosing from the various skill sets and participating fully in the training sessions. On our part, we shall continue to work with reievant stakeholders, including financial institutions, to enable you actualize your business dreams.

He admonished the corps members not to indulge in cultism, drug abuse and other social vices 

"Socal media should be used only for promotion of unity and other positive purposes rather than rumour peddling and promotion of hatred, and always be security conscious and avoid putting yourselves in harm's way. 

Brigadier General Ibrahim said arrangements were being perfected with NCDC to ensure that the Corps members were given COVID 19 vaccine during the orientation course. 

"At this juncture, I wish to remind you of the need to continue to comply with the COVID-19 prevention protocols throughout the Orientation period. In particular, you must ensure physical distancing and wearing of face masks as well as make good use of hand washing facilities provided at strategic locations, amongst other safety measures.

I, therefore, encourage those of you, who are yet to take the vaccine, to do so without further delay as the rule could apply to Corps members in places of Primary Assignment. Of greater significance is the fact that the vaccine will keep you safe. We are already in touch with the relevant authorities with a view to ensuring that the vaccines are made available to you in the course of this programme. 

Newsline NG however learnt that the Corps members who were putting on their nose mask were also made to observed physical distancing after being tested for COVID 19.