Osinbajo’s Committee Did Not Call For Suspension Of NYSC ― Laolu Akande

Osinbajo’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, made this known on Tuesday on Twitter.

Akande said in the tweet: “It is important to correct that it is the paramilitary orientation camping that is being considered to be suspended for at least 24 months, NOT the deployment to places of primary assignment i.e. the longer part of the NYSC programme would NOT be affected in case this idea is okayed.”

It would be recalled that the Economic Sustainability Committee, in the report submitted by Osinbajo last week, recommended the direct mobilisation of prospective corps members to their places of primary assignment.

The report stated explicitly that the corps members should be made to skip the camping exercise in adherence to the social distancing directive given as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The report partly reads: “The immediate focus in the education sector is to address the disruptions caused by the pandemic and ensuring social distancing measures at all levels of education. Practical steps will be taken to minimise disruption to learning, utilising technology as appropriate.

“Specifically, virtual learning will be implemented (either online or through broadcast), virtual convocation ceremonies or issuance of certificates (with postponed ceremonies) should be implemented to continue educational progression.

“In a similar context, consideration will be given to suspending the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp Exercises for at least 24 months while allowing deployments to places of primary assignment. This will ensure that there is no backlog in the National Service placement pipeline.”