Nigeria’s former Head of State and founding father of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), General Yakubu Gowon (Retired), has commended the managers of the Scheme for sustaining the vision that informed its establishment.
General Gowon noted that despite facing strong opposition from Nigerian students nationwide at its inception, the NYSC has overcome initial misgivings and grown into a nationally recognized tool for fostering national unity, integration, development, job creation, and youth empowerment in Nigeria.
The former Head of State made these remarks when the newly appointed Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, paid him a courtesy visit at his residence in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
He acknowledged the multi-dimensional contributions of Corps Members to national development over the 50 years of the Scheme’s existence.
Gowon further praised the deployment policy of NYSC, which exposes Corps Members to the various peoples and cultures of Nigeria, by posting them to States and geographical locations other than their own.
While congratulating Brigadier General Nafiu on his appointment, Gowon urged him to build on the legacies of his predecessors by propelling the NYSC to greater heights and also wished him well.
Brigadier General Nafiu described the initiative of establishing the NYSC in 1973 as a divine project that has been of immense blessing to the country, positively impacting generations of Nigerians.
Nafiu, who said the visit was to solicit General Gowon’s blessings, expressed appreciation for his fatherly role in the Scheme and appealed for his continued mentorship.
The NYSC was established by the Gowon administration as part of the post-war programmes designed to reconcile, reconstruct, and rehabilitate Nigeria after a bitter 30-month-long civil war that had ravaged the country.
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