It was excitement all the way for the Batch ‘B’ Stream 1 Corps Members after they had their official passing out parade to signal the end of their national youth service program.
The passing out ceremony which took place on Thursday 28th May, 2020, was held nationwide except in select locations for official reasons.
Among the elated corps members was a Nollywood actor, Dr. Wilson Joshua. While answering questions from journalists, Dr. Joshua revealed that though the scheme was hectic, but it had helped him in more ways than one, especially as it helped him integrate properly in the northern part of Nigeria, an area which he had previously not been to and had no idea about their way of life.
The actor who had taken up a couple of roles in select Nigerian movies, and is equally a very popular face in Linjust comedy series, extolled the NYSC scheme for living up to its mantra which was to help the youths know more about, and become familiar with various states in the country apart from their state of birth.
While praising the NYSC scheme, Dr. Wilson pointed out areas he felt were sorely lacking in the scheme. These, according to him, included better welfare package for serving corps members, provision of accommodation and transport allowance. He expressed sadness that many places of primary assignment do not provide accommodation for their corps members, and at the same time they do not give them any allowances to cover their transportation to their various work places, neither do they provide any allowance for them to seek accommodation outside.
He encouraged the NYSC and the Federal Government to ensure that places of primary assignment pay corps members these allowances, and equally petitioned corpers to be bold enough to demand for these as their rights.
Dr. Wilson also entreated the government, parastatals and private organizations to retain passing out corps members who had served satisfactorily under them as a way of encouraging incoming corps members, as well to reduce the soaring unemployment statistics in the country.
When explaining what the future holds for him after passing out, Dr. Wilson said his life was still unfolding, much like a game of cards and he is excited to see where it takes him. He thanked friends, families and well-wishers for having encouraged and supported him through the program
