Nine corps members in Nasarawa State are to repeat their service for absconding from their places of primary assignment, Mrs Ramatu Sanda, NYSC Coordinator in the state, has said.
The coordinator made this known in Lafia on Thursday, while briefing newsmen after the Passing Out Parade for the 2018 Batch “C” Stream I corps members.
Sanda said the nine corps members would be remobilised for a new service year, while four others who absconded for a period of one to two months would face some months extension.
According to her, the offences contravened the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) bye-laws and punishments take effect after final ratification by the Nasarawa State NYSC Governing Board.
“Its sad that extension of service is becoming a norm. NYSC is a laudable initiative aimed at fostering unity and helping the youths, but some keep absconding.
“For this batch, we also have some corps members who have erred during the service year. We have thirteen of them in total but nine of them totally absconded from service.
“Others left their places of primary assignment without permission for a period of one to two months,’’ she said.
The coordinator said the decision to punish the erring corps members was based on the recommendation of the state NYSC Disciplinary Committee.
“This body looks into the cases and invites the corps members concerned to defend themselves.
“At the end, a decision is taken, strictly in accordance with our laws, but the decision takes effect after the NYSC governing board ratifies it,’’ she said.
Sanda advised the outgoing corps members to take advantage of the skills they acquired during their service year, to be self employed
“It is important that they should engage themselves with the training they got during the service year to sustain themselves, instead of relying on their parents or waiting for white collar jobs.”
Sanda also disclosed that nine of the corps members have been marked out for awards for their exemplary performance.
“We are just waiting for the NYSC governing board in the state to ratify it before the awards would be given,” she said.
She said that out of the 1706 corps members who passed-out, 897 were males, while 809 were females.
