President Muhammadu Buhari has honored some 65 former National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members as part of the celebration of the scheme’s 50 years anniversary.
The president also highlighted the numerous achievements of the scheme since its establishment 50 years ago.
Speaking at the NYSC 50th Anniversary Honours Award held at the State House Conference Centre on Thursday, the President said out of the 65 recipients, 52 individuals received the Presidential Honours Awards, while the remaining 13 were physically challenged ex-corps members recognised under the NYSC Hope Alive Programme.
In addition to the employment, President Buhari also disclosed that both groups would be awarded scholarships to pursue their education up to the doctorate level at any university they choose within the country.
Furthermore, he announced a cash prize of N250,000 for each of the top award winners and N200,000 for other award recipients, including the physically challenged ex-corps members under the NYSC Hope Alive Programme.
Consequently, the President issued a directive to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Civil Service Commission and the Minister of Education to ensure adherence to the employment offer and the granting of scholarships.
President Buhari also used the occasion to pay tribute to corps members from the honoured batches, who lost their lives under various circumstances while serving the nation.
“But for their transitioning, some might have been here today as part of the honorees. May God grant their souls peaceful repose. They remain our heroes and heroines. The nation shall continue to remember their sacrifices towards building a strong, indivisible, and egalitarian entity,” he said.
The President also sympathised with the ex-corps members who sustained varying degrees of disability during the service year, acknowledging their significant sacrifices for the country’s progress and assuring them that the nation stands in solidarity with them.
“Your labour shall not be in vain,” he said.
President Buhari praised all Nigerians who have answered the call for national service in the past 50 years for their patriotic zeal and commitment to the NYSC mandate.
He emphasised that it has justified its establishment as an interventionist agency with a core mandate to foster national unity across the country, thereby breaking down ethnic suspicions and divisions.
“The multiplicity of marriages contracted over the years by corps members, cutting across the boundaries of ethnicity and religion in no small measure, justifies my assertion,” he said.