NYSC D-G receives fellowship award from Ghanaian institute

The investiture and decoration were done by the institute’s Executive Director for West African Region, Dr Richard Aquarte, on Tuesday in Abuja.

After receiving the 2022 Medal of Honour, Ibrahim said the honour was for all the staff of the NYSC as they were all contributors to his success.

“As the director-general, I am not perfect as a man having his own strengths and weaknesses, but we bridge the weaknesses from the strength of others, and these we have been doing.

“Of course, you must have read the history of how the NYSC was established and how it was a fall-out of the civil war from 1967 to 1970, the then Head of State, retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon thought of what he could do to bring our people together.

“We know that once the youths’ expertise and knowledge are harnessed, and we can get them to be in parts of the country other than their own, it will bring peace, cohesion and integration.

“This is what the NYSC has been known to pursue for 49 years of its existence,” he said.

Ibrahim noted that the youth corps members were doing very well in all the programmes set out by the scheme for them to participate in, a situation which he said gladdens his heart.

He added that other African countries were trying to learn how to run the scheme from Nigeria with the level of unity, cohesion and integration it had garnered within the country.

According to him, though there are challenges, the staff had put on their thinking caps to ensure that the scheme is self-sustainable.

He appreciated the institute for the recognition and award, adding that it will spur more growth in the organisation.

Also speaking, Aquarte said that the institute was recognising leadership, excellence, professionalism and integrity being displayed by the D-G.

He added that the institute had a mechanism for its selection process because it was not an all-comers affair, but specifically for professional personalities.

“The institute has been watching his track records for the past 24 months, looking into his productivity level, integrity index and notable contribution to national development, not just in Nigeria but in the diaspora.

“He has made the NYSC a global brand and not just a Nigerian institution.

“He has ensured that the scheme has a very vibrant youth exposure and we have also looked at the museum and farms for increased food production, and also the information technology awareness which he has enshrined into the scheme.

“There has never been such before his coming, so we see him as a very renowned, iconic professional technocrat of note,” he said.

The institute which was established in 1995, is an international institute which is professionally structured to strategically advance entrepreneurship proficiency.

It also cultivates management excellence and enhances the drive towards zero tolerance for corrupt practices in the various sectors of a nation’s economy, both in the public and private sectors.

Ibrahim assumed duty as the 18th Director-General of the NYSC on May 10, 2019.