The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), Dr Yusuf Buba Yakub, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for improving the agency’s operations under the 4-D Foreign Policy Initiative, saying Nigeria remains the only African nation providing development assistance on the scale and consistency of the Technical Aid Corps to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
In a statement by the Special Assistant to the NTAC Director-General on Media and Publicity, Mr Nkem Anyata-Lafia, the NTAC Director-General made the assertion on Monday in Abuja during a reception for 14 Nigerian Technical Aid Corps volunteers who successfully completed their two-year assignments in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.
According to him, “Nigeria’s enduring commitment to technical assistance and South-South cooperation has continued to strengthen the country’s global goodwill and diplomatic influence.”
He noted that the country’s contributions were recently acknowledged with Nigeria’s appointment ahead of South Africa to the Steering Committee of the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development.
Dr Yakub observed that for more than 39 years, “Nigerian professionals deployed through the Technical Aid Corps Scheme have projected the nation’s image positively across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.”
He said the scheme, through the support of the Nigerian government, has produced teachers, medical professionals, engineers, technocrats and other experts whose contributions have helped shape national development in many host countries.
The Director-General expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support for the Technical Aid Corps Scheme.
Dr Yakub congratulated the returning volunteers on their exemplary service and the positive image they projected for Nigeria.
He recalled a remarkable demonstration of the Scheme’s impact in Guinea-Bissau, where a grateful woman named her newborn daughter Nkiruka after a Nigerian NTAC volunteer nurse whose exceptional professionalism saved both mother and child during a life-threatening medical emergency.
Earlier, the NTAC Director of Programmes, Ambassador Bello Jaye, commended the leadership of the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer for “overcoming numerous challenges in advancing the mandate of the Corps and expanding its international relevance.”
Speaking on behalf of the returning volunteers, the Team Leader, Dr Abdullahi Isa, a Consultant Physician and Internal Medicine specialist at the Federal Medical Centre, Minna, Niger State, expressed profound appreciation to the Federal Government for the opportunity to serve Nigeria abroad.
He commended President Bola Tinubu’s Four-D Foreign Policy Initiative, which, he said, revitalised the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps Scheme following the President’s assumption of office in 2023.
Dr Isa also applauded the management of NTAC for the consistent support provided to volunteers throughout their assignments, noting that the enabling environment created by the agency contributed significantly to their outstanding achievements in their respective host countries.
The ceremony climaxed with the presentation of Certificates of Participation to each of the 14 returning volunteers in recognition of their successful completion of service.
Currently, a total of 274 volunteers are serving in 13 countries across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
NTAC will sustain its contributions to capacity building, knowledge transfer and institutional strengthening in beneficiary countries. By deepening South-South cooperation, NTAC will continue to project Nigeria’s values, expertise and leadership in international fora while ensuring that the impact of Nigeria’s soft power diplomacy remains long-lasting and transformative.
The Technical Aid Corps Scheme has facilitated the transfer of knowledge in critical sectors and contributed to human capacity development in recipient countries.
This is evident as many of these countries have acknowledged the impact of the NTAC Volunteer Scheme in strengthening their local institutions and improving service delivery.
It is noteworthy that serving and former NTAC volunteers have advanced to senior academic and administrative positions, including Vice-Chancellors and Deputy Vice-Chancellors, at foreign universities in countries such as The Gambia and Uganda, among others.
