Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has assured that his administration will continue to provide an enabling environment for corps members to feel wanted, loved, appreciated and respected during their national service in the state.
The governor gave the assurance during a courtesy visit by the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Olakunle O. Nafiu, at Lagos House, Marina.
Governor Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his government’s commitment to supporting them as they serve and grow, assuring that his government was fully committed to building the NYSC permanent site project in the Ikorodu area of the state.
“We are being very deliberate and intentional. It is very gratifying that a large number of corp members in the country are in Lagos. I want to assure you again that we will continue to provide an enabling environment for corps members to feel wanted, loved and appreciated during their time in Lagos.
“We commend all our youth corpers. It is always something of joy to identify with them, to see those uniforms and to continue to encourage them and for them to thrive in whatever they do. It is a national pride and something that everybody must carry with dignity and honour.
“We will do whatever is expected of us to make their time and period here a memorable one. We want to assure you that as a government, we will continue to support and make the scheme interesting and memorable for corps members at all times,” the governor said.
Speaking earlier, Brig. Gen. Nafiu, commended Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State Government for the marvellous things they were doing for NYSC in Lagos, noting that based on the visible imprints everywhere, corps members were always excited to come to Lagos, just as he disclosed that over 44,000 corps members were currently serving in Lagos.
The NYSC boss said the purpose of his visit was to further cement the already cordial relationship that existed between the state government and the National Youth Service Corps, pledging his organisation’s continued support in deploying corps members to Lagos State for socio-economic development.
“Lagos State is the number one destination for corps members in the country. As of today, Lagos State has over 44,000 corps members serving in Lagos. NYSC has 303 doctors serving in Lagos State. We deployed about 7,148 teachers teaching in the public schools and 274 nurses. We have about 35,000 serving in other public and private sectors within the state, making Lagos State the highest in terms of core postings in the country.
“NYSC saved Lagos about N14.8 billion annually when we consider the cost of paying corps members in the state if they were to be employed full-time. The NYSC scheme has continued to remain a viable scheme not only in uniting the country and building bridges across culture, religion and socio-economic divides, but it also contributes immensely to the socio-economic development of the state and communities where our corps members are deployed.
“We appreciate the security in Lagos. It makes it very peaceful, and parents are always eager and comfortable when their sons and daughters are posted to Lagos. Parents are comfortable with their daughters serving in Lagos State.
Lagos State consistently for the past five or six years has been having more female corp members than male corp members. We want to thank the Governor for the enabling environment you have continuously provided for us in Lagos State,” he said.