The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has directed all state and FCT coordinators to ensure strict compliance with COVID-19 prevention and safety protocols at all camps and other formations of the scheme nationwide.

He gave the directive while interacting with the management of the scheme and officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) during a virtual meeting held as part of preparations for the conduct of Batch “B” Stream II orientation course scheduled to commence on January 19, 2021.

General Ibrahim, who thanked the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and NCDC for considering re-opening of the orientation camps, noted that corps members are critical change agents in national development agenda, whose potentials will continue to be effectively harnessed in the health, education and other vital sectors of the economy.

“Necessary facilities that will enhance compliance with COVID-19 prevention and safety protocols have been provided in the camps while prospective corps members and camp officials will all be subjected to coronavirus test as a precondition for entry into the orientation camps,” the DG said.

According to him, corps vanguards and enforcement teams have been constituted for all the camps, as part of measures to ensure strict compliance, as well as support the national response efforts to stem the tide of the new wave of the pandemic.

Members of the NCDC team, led by Dr. Oyeladun Okunromade, in their various presentations during the meeting, described the NYSC’s response to the pandemic as a functional model currently being considered for replication in other sectors to enhance community testing, thus, safeguarding the health of the nation.

Okunromade expressed satisfaction with the facilities put in place to enhance compliance with the prevention and safety protocols during the previous orientation programmes, and called for increased vigilance and cooperation to consolidate the success already recorded for subsequent orientation exercises.

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