Mr. Sunday Aroni, Lagos State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps, on Wednesday, charged participants of the scheme in the state to steer clear of the abuse of social media and hate speech.
Aroni, who spoke at the closing of orientation course for the 2019 Batch C, Stream 11 corps members at the temporary camp in Iyana Ipaja, Agege, Lagos, also charged them not to broadcast falsehood.
He said his charge was in line with the Federal Government’s efforts to prevent avoidable crises in the country.
Aroni said: “May I use this occasion to admonish my dear corps members to avoid the abuse of social media, broadcast of false news and hate speech in line with the Federal Government’s efforts at containing avoidable crisis in our country.”
He urged the corps members, who would be proceeding for their primary assignments not to play truancy and desist from acts capable of denting the image of the scheme, stressing that they should obey the rules of the NYSC as spelt out in the bye-laws, as erring ones would be punished.
Aroni, who noted that the tendency of people to travel during the yuletide when the roads are busy, urged the corps members not to embark on unauthorized journeys, adding, “if you must travel, permission must be obtained through the proper channel.
“Don’t travel alone. Don’t travel at nights or on deserted routes. Avoid unregistered means of transportation.”
He, however, maintained that the corps members, while in camp, exhibited high sense of humility, patriotism, commitment and dedication in the course of their training, stressing, “their diligence and selfless participation in the camp administration contributed immensely to the success of this orientation course.”
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Aroni stressed that Lagos State was indeed favoured to have this set of corps members, even as he commended the efforts of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his interest in the activities of the scheme in the state.
He, however, reminded the governor of the need to look into the issue of the NYSC permanent site at the land already allocated at Agbowa in Ikorodu area of the state to provide conducive atmosphere for camp activities, which would enable more participants to be posted to the state.
Aroni also warned corps members and NYSC staff not to engage in nefarious activities, disclosing that someone used an old letter headed paper of the Lagos NYSC to forge the signature of the Director-General to disseminate false information, stressing that anyone caught involved in such criminal action would be severely punished.
In his speech, Governor Sanwo-Olu, represented by Dr. Wale Ahmed, Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, urged the corps members to put into practice what they had learnt during the orientation.
Sanwo-Olu exhorted the corps members to exhibit the virtues of tolerance, patriotism, diligence and perseverance in their personal and official activities during the service period, even as he urged them to create visions and execute projects that would advance the overall socio-economic lives of the people in the communities they were posted to.
“Human capital development of our youths remains topmost on the programme of this administration and we will continue to create the enabling environment for job and wealth creation. I urge you to complement the efforts of government and the NYSC scheme by taking advantage of the developmental trainings organised for you under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) to be financially independent and also qualify to access loans through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund,” he added.
He added: “Your welfare, especially security is our top priority. I therefore implore you to be security conscious at all times. In case of emergency or any situation of distress, call our toll-free numbers 112 and 767 for assistance.”
