4 months ago
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Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has approved the sum of N5 billion for the construction of new permanent National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Paiko.
The governor also confirmed the automatic employment for corps members who studied medicine and other health-related courses.
The initiative, the Niger State government said, is to address the dearth of doctors and other medical workers in the state hospitals.
Naija News reports that Governor Bago disclosed this during the swearing-in of 1,600 youth corps members posted to the state for the 2024 Batch ‘B’ Stream 1 at the Permanent Orientation Camp in Paiko, the Headquarters of Paikoro LGA of the state.
To further encourage youth corps members, Bago announced a ₦200,000 gift each for the 1,600 youth corps members as a bonus for accepting to serve in the state.
He said: “We have an automatic employment scheme for all medical and health work corpers in Niger State. So, once you are in the medical field, you have been employed directly by the Niger State Government. So, the rest of you should join me on my farm,” he said.
“Let me welcome all corps members to Niger State. We are agrarians; we are farmers. So, in my conversation, everywhere I go, I begin to wonder, how somebody can go to university or polytechnic, finish and be waiting for ₦60,000 minimum wage when in Niger Foods alone, I pay ₦500,000 every month.
“All corps members serving in Niger State today are entitled to ₦200,000 bonus from Niger Farms. So, you have ₦200, 000 each of you. I understand you are 1, 600 in number. So, we are going to credit your accounts with ₦200,000 each. This is to give you comfort to stay in Niger State.
“Again, to the Director General, NYSC, we want to build a brand new NYSC camp. So, today we are putting ₦5 billion for your new camp. So, Niger State is giving N5 billion to the Minister and the DG to build a new NYSC camp.”
Bago committed to constructing additional toilet facilities and drilling five deep wells at the temporary orientation camp.
He also announced that the state government would distribute 20 cows and a truck full of rice to corps members, aiming to enhance their experience of serving in the state.
Bago mentioned that the NYSC would receive ₦5 billion for the construction of a new camp and that each new corps member would receive an N200,000 bonus, which would be funded by the agriculture sector, highlighting the potential for success in this field.
“We have invested so much money in Mechanised agriculture because farming is not about hoe and cutlass. So, you can be in Niger Farms.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Sports and Youths Development and DG of the NYSC on how we can propel agriculture into the NYSC scheme”, he said.
Jamila Ibrahim Bio, the Minister of Youth Development, announced that the Federal Government is initiating a program aimed at supporting at least 5,000 NYSC members with up to N10 million each for their own business projects upon their service completion.
She mentioned that the revamped Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) will begin taking applications this month (July) to facilitate more young innovators in securing financial backing for their creative projects.
Before this, the state coordinator for the program, Mrs Olayinka Abdulwahab, revealed that over 100 young members of the corps were involved in the Niger State Green Economy Project, where they are employed at the state farms operated by Niger Foods and Logistics Limited.
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