The United Republic of Tanzania has expressed its desire to understudy the activities, programmes, achievements, and challenges of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and replicate the same.
The Deputy High Commissioner and Charge D’affaire of Tanzania High Commission, Her Excellency, Judica Nagunwa stated this when she paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General YD Ahmed at the National Directorate Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
She said the Tanzania National Service programme which started in 1963 is for both volunteers and compulsory participants, but added that many viable programmes in NYSC are yet to be replicated in her country.
She commended NYSC’s contributions to national development, adding that “We think there is the need to come and learn from you.
“We have come to study the structure of NYSC and see how it can assist us in vocational training, youth empowerment, wealth production, and security”.
In his response, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed said the Scheme which was established more than fifty-one years ago is a year compulsory national service programme for graduates below the age of thirty.
He added that through the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development training programme, millions of Corps Members have acquired vocational skills that have made them employers of labour in different locations across Nigeria.
In a statement by the Director, Information and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, the DG disclosed that NYSC has undergone many changes with the exigencies of time to make it responsive to national needs.
He further said that the main objective of establishing NYSC was to foster national unity and integration after the 30-month-old Nigerian Civil War.
General Ahmed also, informed the Tanzanian delegate that, the tripartite responsibilities of the Scheme, are borne by the Federal, State, and Local Governments.
“We are in collaboration with many organizations that offer business grants to Corps Members, to help them establish their businesses.
“More than five million youths have passed through the Scheme from inception till date”, the DG said.
He promised the NYSC’s readiness to offer every necessary assistance for the Tanzania National Service.
About The Author
