by By Elijah Ugani – Calabar
Out of the 778 Corps Members of the 2019 Batch ‘B’ Stream II, 8 have carted away State Governor’s award, 3 received merit awards from the NYSC governing board chairman, 9 got Commendation letters from the State Coordinator while 12 are to repeat the service year.
The State Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Nakamba disclosed this through the Assistant Director in charge of Reward and Discipline at the NYSC Cross River state Secretariat, Calabar, Mr. Abel Udofia on the occasion of the low-key passing out ceremony held across NYSC offices at the 18 local government areas of the state.
While on a monitoring trip to the various local government areas, the Coordinator, showered encomiums on the Corps Members for playing prominent roles in their various host communities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also expressed satisfaction at the level of compliance of both staff and Corps Members to health guidelines put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic.
“Gentlemen Corps Members, I salute the speed with which you responded to the fight against COVID-19 under my watch. Despite the option made available by NYSC Directorate Headquarters for you to go home, some of you who stayed behind and were able to contribute meaningfully through the production of nose masks.
“Worthy of mention is the cooperation from the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED, Team in the state who tirelessly produced nose masks across the 4 NYSC Zonal formations. This truly indicates the trainings given to you during your Orientation Course did not go in vain. May God reward you abundantly”, the Coordinator stated.
Sharing her experience and joy, Corps Member Alexandra Tochi Chibueze who emerged winner of Miss NYSC for the Batch wished that the service year be extended. “It has been so far a learning process. For every step of the way, there was always something new to discover. I find the whole journey so interesting; I don’t even want it to end. Sadly, everything that has a beginning has an end. The saddest part of it is that it won’t even be a party courtesy of the pandemic and the mere thought of it is depressing and really sad. But it’s better to be safe than sick”, she expressed.
Chibueze who is one of the winners of the Governor’s award further mentioned that the service year shaped her mentality and perspective of life. She said, “It has served as an eye opener to what is really obtainable in the society outside the comfort of home. It has created a platform for self discovery and has encouraged me to be a better citizen. It has also allowed me to serve as an instrument in contributing to national development”.
