The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, NTAC, Dr. Yusuf Yakub has urged the Eighteen NTAC Volunteers deployed to the Gambia to distinguish themselves through exemplary conduct and outstanding service.
In a statement by the Corps Media and Publicity, Mr. Nkem Anyata-Lafia. Yakub tasked the Volunteers to leave behind, enduring footprints of excellence before the completion of their assignments during the Orientation Exercise in Abuja.
He also added that the achievements recorded by previous Technical Aid Corps Volunteers across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific had earned Nigeria widespread respect and goodwill.
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“The new batch should sustain and build upon that enviable legacy. Technical Aid Corps has become synonymous with deploying Nigeria’s finest professionals and experts to partner countries, making the scheme one of the nation’s most effective instruments of people-to-people diplomacy and South-South cooperation,” he said.
The Director General congratulated the Volunteers on their successful enlistment into the scheme, noting that the 24-month assignment offers them a unique opportunity to uphold Nigeria’s reputation for excellence.
Dr. Yakub also expressed profound appreciation to Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his unwavering support for the Technical Aid Corps Scheme over the past three years.
“The administration’s commitment has further strengthened Nigeria’s soft power diplomacy and reinforced the country’s leadership role in the Global South,” he said.
Exceptional Performance
Highlighting the outstanding performance of former Technical Aid Corps Volunteers in The Gambia, the NTAC Director General disclosed that several had risen to occupy strategic positions, including Vice-Chancellors and Deputy Vice-Chancellors in the Gambian Universities.
He further revealed that the exceptional performance of one immediate past Volunteer earned him a fresh appointment by the Gambian authorities to continue serving for another year as Vice-Chancellor of a major institution.
Earlier, while presenting the Volunteers to the Director-General, the Director of Programmes, Ambassador Bello Jaye, said the selected officers had distinguished themselves in both character and professional competence and had successfully completed all the requirements for participation in the Technical Aid Corps Scheme.
Speaking on behalf of the Volunteers, the Team Leader, Professor Bashir Aliyu, a Professor of Agricultural Engineering at Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Adamawa State Northeast Nigeria, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for the renewed momentum witnessed by the Technical Aid Corps Scheme in recent years.
He assured the NTAC Director-General that “the team would uphold Nigeria’s reputation by demonstrating excellence, dedication and patriotism throughout their assignment in The Gambia.”
The ceremony concluded with a group photograph of the Volunteers and members of the NTAC Management.
