THE House of Representatives is making efforts to review the Social Investment Programme so as to absorb corps members upon their one-year mandatory service.
The Chairman, House Committee on Youth Development, Mr. Adeyemi Adaramodu,said the committee was reviewing the programme to ensure the absorption of corps members into the Socio Investment Programme.
Adaramodu stated this during the visit of the committee to the NYSC orientation camp in Wannune, Tarka LGA of Benue State on Thursday.
He explained that the review, when completed, would reduce high rate of unemployment among Nigeria youths.
Adaramodu said that his committee was were in Benue Camp to see things for themselves following series of stories being heard in recent times concerning the bad condition of the camp, stressing that, out of the 37 camps in Nigeria, Benue is one of the two camps they have chosen to visit to assess their facilities.
He explained that the youth development committee is well committed and focused towards changing the narratives about the belief that it is only those with “backbones” that can gain employment in Nigeria.
“We are going to make sure that it is the youths that do not have connections that would gain employment. The future of our youths must start now and those of us that are already spending our tomorrow, we must make sure that we create space for the youths.
“ Therefore the era of young graduates who usually look up to the North, East, South and West struggling to get a job after one year NYSC scheme, would soon come to past, hence review of the SIP”.
“Even the empowerment scheme shall critically be reviewed. We want to make it more powerful that it can empower more youths. We want to assure you that we have become partners in progress,” he said.
The committee chairman stressed the need for government to address the issue of infrastructural deficit at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in the state.
He however said that it has now become an offense for any organization to reject corps members posted to a place to serve, saying that anywhere any corps member is posted to, he or she should be absorbed and allow to serve in such place as there was no provision for rejection of corps members.
Earlier in his address of welcome, state coordinator of NYSC, Mr. Shicha Joshua-Simon, thanked the members for their visit saying that the camp had been on a smooth sail since inception while the management was constantly conscious of the high premium placed on the welfare and development of the fresh graduates.
He disclosed that a total of 1840 corps members comprising of 924 males and 1840 females have been duly registered and undergoing camp training for the Batch C stream 1.