The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs have agreed to collaborate on the delivery of free healthcare services and women empowerment initiatives in rural communities across Nigeria.
The partnership was sealed during a courtesy visit by the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, to the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking during the meeting, Brigadier General Nafiu said the Scheme has a large network of healthcare professionals serving in communities nationwide who can be deployed to support the Ministry’s health interventions.
He noted that through the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD), introduced in 2014, the NYSC has continued to provide free medical outreach services using Corps Members who are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, physiotherapists, dermatologists and medical laboratory scientists.
The NYSC Director General said the recent donation of two mobile medical clinics to the Scheme by the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, would further strengthen healthcare delivery to women and children in underserved communities.
According to him, the mobile clinics can be deployed regularly to support the Ministry’s medical outreach programmes, improve access to free screening and treatment, and help reduce maternal and child mortality across the country.
Brigadier General Nafiu also proposed collaboration in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development, suggesting that the Ministry’s vocational training centres be utilised for the post-Orientation Course training of Corps Members under the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
He explained that Corps Members would, in turn, transfer the acquired vocational skills to women in their host communities, thereby promoting economic empowerment and sustainable livelihoods.
The NYSC Director General further highlighted the Scheme’s longstanding support for the Ministry during annual International Women’s Day and Children’s Day celebrations through cultural displays, music, dance and public enlightenment campaigns.
Responding, the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described the visit as historic, saying stronger collaboration between both institutions was long overdue given their shared commitment to national development and social welfare.
She expressed the Ministry’s readiness to partner with the NYSC in all the proposed areas and stressed that effective inter-agency collaboration remains essential for delivering sustainable development outcomes.
To ensure the partnership takes off smoothly, the Minister proposed the appointment of focal persons from both organisations to develop a framework that would coordinate and guide the implementation of the agreed areas of collaboration.
Hajiya Sulaiman-Ibrahim also commended the NYSC Director General’s leadership, describing him as a quiet achiever whose stewardship has brought stability and renewed momentum to the operations of the Scheme.
The Minister of Women Affairs described the NYSC as one of Nigeria’s most enduring national institutions, noting that its impact continues to shape the lives of millions of Nigerians.
“There is hardly anyone who has not passed through the NYSC. It is an institution that is very dear to all of us. My own daughter is currently serving, and I appreciate how important the Scheme is to her and to the nation,” the Minister said.
