Sylvia Udegbunam, Enugu

The Senate Committee on Youth, Sports and Community Engagement has urged the Enugu State government to work towards more funding and re-equipping the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Permanent Orientation camp at Awgu Local Government Area of the State.

The Senate Committee Chairman on Youth, Sports and Community Engagement, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, made this statement when the committee paid Mbah a working visit to the Government House in Enugu on Wednesday.

The committee informed the governor that they were on inspection of NYSC facilities in the state, saying that the committee had already taken note of the good work the governor was doing not only for the NYSC but also in his engagement of youth in governance and training them with modern skills that would empower them.

The senator, who was joined by his colleague from Ebonyi State as well as a member of the committee, Senator Kenneth Eze, and others in his entourage, called for the strengthening of the institution, stressing that NYSC had contributed toward nation-building and national unity which should be sustained.

He bemoaned some of the decaying facilities in the scheme, noting that NYSC was faced with challenges of infrastructure, shelter, epileptic power supply and logistics.

Responding, the governor said his administration had made some significant intervention at the NYSC permanent orientation camp in terms of improving and upgrading the facilities, adding that his government would continue to support the scheme in other areas despite the lean resources at the disposal of the administration.

The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Chidiebere Onyia, noted that his government had previously undertaken the re-roofing and other renovation of the NYSC permanent campground.

He added that efforts were being made to embark on strategic measures in rebuilding the structure, saying that a permanent parade ground had already been allocated to the scheme to aid their training.

Mbah further said that the administration was deliberately up-skilling the youths with the right training and competencies to compete at the global stage.

While calling for maintenance culture to be strengthened in most of the institutions, the governor enjoined the senate to consider the significance of the state and make appropriate appreciable allocation for skill acquisition and training for the youths in the state.