Comrade Mohammed Adamu Jiya, the Borno State Coordinator for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has disclosed that a significant number of corps members initially assigned to the state are now hesitant to withdraw their requests for relocation.
This change in sentiment has been influenced by the generous offerings they’ve received at the camp and the presence of essential facilities.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday at the Orientation Camp in Maiduguri, which was recently reopened following its 2011 closure due to the Boko Haram insurgency, Comrade Adamu highlighted that upon their arrival, many of the corps members were disheartened about the state and thus had submitted various medical reports seeking transfer to different locations.
Adamu, the camp coordinator, shared that he used to interact with corps members who had submitted relocation applications, often pointing out that some of these reports were authored by either the corps members themselves or individuals with no medical background.
He humorously mentioned that one corps member even presented a report claiming heart and liver issues, while that very individual held the position of a football team captain within the camp, demonstrating the inconsistency of such claims.
“So, initially, almost all of them were putting up relocation letters, but eventually, what we are witnessing now is battle for withdrawal of the applications for relocation the corps members earlier submitted.
“And the reason for the battle for the withdrawals of the relocation applications could be attributed to the parents and guardians of the corps members, as well as news getting out from the mainstream media because, you can see fake news from the social media, but the mainstream media was able to disseminate the right information to parents through pictures and stories.
“One of them said that three of them were given posting letters, but when he came and saw that the camp was good, he invited his friends. Parents and guardians should disregard a lot of fake news from the social media.
“Feeding of corps members which is the sole responsibility of the federal government through the NYSC has been going on and very adequate, but just this afternoon, the Executive Governor of Borno State, Babagana Umara Zulum came and said he has decided to extend the palliative of the government to the camp.
“The Governor gave 10 cows, 100 bags of rice, 20 jerricans of groundnut oil, 20 bags of beans and N30,000 each to over 1,215 corps members. The theatre Commander Operation Hadin Kai, Maj Gen. Gold Chibuisi came with all his Commanders and donated two cows to the camp. So at the moment, the camp is blessed with 12 cows.
Reacting to the good condition of the camp and the welfare coming from the Borno State government, George Egon, a native of Cross River and a graduate of Biology Education from the University of Calabar, said what they are witnessing in the camp is contrary to what they were told back in the south before the Orientation.
“We were made to believe that there are no human beings and when I saw in my call up letter that I was posted to Borno State, it was all strange. I was like what am I going there to do? But being a person of faith, after processing the thumb print after its failure in the previous batch, I did not waste time, and it was a beautiful ride to Maiduguri.
“We have received great hospitality in different forms. On our arrival we recieved great alert from the Governor, and today he has done much another great thing to us. I want to say that I have accepted the people. I love them and I am here to contribute my quota to the society,” Egon said.
For Jimoh Latifat Olawumi , who came from Kwara State, notwithstanding that she cried when she saw her posting to Borno State and made every possible move with her parents for another posting , after meeting with friends who were equally posted to the State, she summoned courage and followed the friends.
“When we entered the camp, we saw that the camp was good. So the experience in the camp is very good. We have very nice hostels. We were surprised that there was light , water and access to other basic amenities in the camp. Everywhere is okay. With what the state government is doing and the good condition of the camp, many corps members who earlier applied for relocation are withdrawing back their applications,” She said.
