Shettima, Others Want FG To Review Stance on NYSC Postings.

EVEN as thousands of Youth Corps members are thanking their stars over the Federal Government’s decision not to force them to serve in troubled states in the North, Several of the affected states are already lamenting the impact the development will have on their affairs.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, for his part has pleaded with the Federal Government to reconsider the decision as the state’s health and education sectors could be “negatively affected”.

Corps members that had been serving in the state provided over 65 per cent of the required healthcare delivery and education services at the grassroots level where 75 per cent of the citizens live.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Friday in Maiduguri, on National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) withdrawal of corps members from BokoHaram-affected states, the Borno state commissioner of health, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo said: “The NYSC health workers which include doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, and laboratory scientists contributed

significantly to the health delivery services in all the rural centres and communities, where most of the people live.”

She pleaded that in “recognition of the importance” of corps members in the health and education sectors of the state, the Federal Government should reverse its stand.

The same fear was also expressed yesterday in the state’s education sector, when the commissioner of education, Musa Inuwa Kubu said: “Most of the teachers in the state’s secondary schools and Teacher Colleges are corps members teaching either science subjects or social sciences. They had been complementing the state’s education programme at both the primary and secondary levels.”

In Bauchi, Governor Isa Yuguda, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ishola Michael Adeyemi, has promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure the safety of the corps members.

The Director-General of NYSC, Brig-Gen. Nnamdi Okore-Affia, has directed officials of NYSC in Kaduna State to release corps members wishing to relocate from the state.

The directive is contained in a statement issued by Mrs Victoria Ango, Kaduna State Coordinator of NYSC in Kaduna on Friday.

``The NYSC is ready to release corps members who may wish to relocate to any state of their choice other than their state of origin for various reasons,’’ the statement quoted Okore-Affia as saying.

The statement said the director-general recently undertook a tour of some of the crisis-prone states in the North to allay the fears of the new corps members in their camps.

``This tour became very necessary in order to allay the fears of the members of the 2012 batch B corps members,’’ the statement quoted Okore-Affia as saying.

He commended the patriotic zeal of the youths, who ``defied all odds to answer the clarion call’’ to serve the fatherland.

Okore-Affia assured corps members posted to Kaduna State of adequate security.

He said that contrary to speculations of mass relocation of 2012 Batch B corps members posted to Kaduna State, 2,489 youths were sworn in for the service in the state on Wednesday.

He commended the corps members for their zeal, discipline, dedication, loyalty and patriotism, which made them accept to serve.