The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has appealed to the Cross River Government to, as a matter of urgency, assist the corps by connecting the camp to the National Grid.
The Coordinator, NYSC, in the state, Mr Andrew Zemo, made the appeal on Wednesday during the Cross River House of Assembly’s plenary.
Zemo also appealed to the government to assist the corps by rehabilitating its orientation camp in the state.
After the plenary, the Coordinator told The Tide’s source that he was at the Assembly to witness the deliberation of the motion moved by Mr Martins Achadu, Member representing Yala 2 State Constituency.
Zemo said the lawmaker, Achadu, had moved for the urgent rehabilitation of the state’s Permanent Orientation Camp in Obubura.
He said the orientation camp in the state was run purely on generator, adding that with the fuel subsidy removal and increasing price of petroleum products, the appeal to connect the camp to the national grid was imperative.
The Coordinator said the prayer of the scheme in the state was for the state government to come to its rescue by paying stipends to corps members posted there, and to rehabilitate the orientation camp, which was in bad shape.
“Lots of corps members are posted to Cross River and they relocate due to the state of the camp and the fact that the state does not pay stipends like some other states.
“We need rehabilitation of the hostels, which will involve the beddings, toilets and lecture halls; there is also a need for more boreholes and connecting the camp that has always run on generator to the national grid.
“Once corps members get to the camp and notice that the facilities are okay, the news will go round and many of them will desire to come to the state instead of asking to be relocated from the state”, Zemo said.
Earlier Achadu, who presented the motion at the floor of the house, said the NYSC was an essential scheme in the state, given the present state of its education.
He said if the state could support the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which was a Federal Agency, they could also support the NYSC scheme which was highly needed in the state.
“Not many corps members are posted to my area, even though we desperately need them. This is because not many are sent to Cross River due to the state of our orientation camp and the inability of the state to pay stipends.
“We need the services of the NYSC, so, we need to support them like it is done in many other states and in return, the scheme will send many corps members needed to the state”, he stressed.
The source reports that the NYSC Orientation Camp in Obubura lacks full perimeter fence and is powered by generators which are usually switched off at 10 p.m. during orientation programmes.