The National Youth Service Corps, says one hundred and ten former Corps members who distinguished themselves during their service year will be conferred with the Presidential National Honours Award.
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, in Nigeria, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim stated this while speaking on the forthcoming Presidential Award which is slated for 11th February 2021.
According to the Director-General, “The award is a reward for those who have distinguished themselves in the course of national service, they are individuals who have contributed immensely to national development”.
“The selection process is rigorous and not only to the NYSC but to various stakeholders to ensure that only those that are duly qualified win this award”, he said.
He also hinted that, for Corps Members to win the award, they must win awards at various levels starting from the local government, state and at the national level.
General Ibrahim further revealed that one hundred and ten of them were selected for the award by the national selecting committee.
While expressing his appreciation on the selection process, the DG noted that those who were not selected for the award does not mean they did not work hard.
He stressed that all Corps Members will not win the award at once but all their services are recognised by the Scheme.
He then highlighted the criteria for the selection of the awardees, to include,
” Corps Members must not serve in their state of origin, they must not relocate from their original state of deployment“.
Ibrahim who advised the Corps Members not to be borrowing money while embarking on such project that could earn them the national award urged them to source for funds from their host community.
” Your host community must take ownership of projects you are embarking on. Corps members must also write and seek for approval of such projects from NYSC which is also a criteria to win the award”, he highlighted
Commenting on the COVID -19 pandemic, the Director-General confirmed that no fatality has been recorded among corps members except for one of the officials who died in Kano isolation centre.
He thanked the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, the National Coordinator for the support and money invested for the return of corps members to Camp.
He stressed that only those that tested negative were allowed into camps while those who tested positive were moved to isolation centre treatment by the NCDC officials.
The National selection committee of the President National Honours Award comprising of Representatives of organisations as well as other Eminent Nigerians who screen the Award Nominees forwarded by the States, at National level and make a final selection.
PIAK
