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Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps in Anambra state, Mr. Aremu Kehinde, has outlined some laudable contributions and initiatives of youth corps members towards the prevention and containment of COVID-19 spread in Anambra.
Kehinde said that the coronavirus pandemic was an era when people did everything humanly possible to save themselves from the dreaded virus but noted that rather than return to their families and friends, corps members serving in the state took their destiny in their own hands and confronted the pandemic head-on.
The state coordinator, who revealed the efforts of the youth corps members in the fight against COVID-19 in Awka, explained that the corps members embarked on the production of face masks, hand sanitizers and other preventive materials to help curb the spread of coronavirus infections in the state.
The NYSC state coordinator said that the pandemic provided veritable opportunity to dig deep into the potentials and talents of the young ones, noting that corps members were deployed for massive public enlightenment and education on the prevention of coronavirus as well as how people could stay safe from the pandemic.
He said that the corps members were organized into cells and they produced hand sanitizers, hand wash, face covers and a host of others; that the youngsters donated about two thousand face masks they produced by themselves to the Anambra state government.
The NYSC state coordinator further disclosed that the NYSC members also donated cartons of hand sanitizers they produced by themselves to the state government and also handed over litres of hand wash to indigent Anambra citizens for them to be able to wash their hands thoroughly to prevent spread of the coronavirus infections.
He said, “In fact the corps members went out of their way to donate their monthly allowances for the fight against COVID-19 in Anambra state. We mobilised the corps members to be part of the intervention in Anambra state.”
He said there were series of interventions by corps members across the 36 states of the federation as part of their patriotic contributions to the war against coronavirus disease even as he stressed also that the pandemic had enabled Nigerians to cross-pollinate ideas for interventions to intensify the battle against the novel coronavirus disease, adding that the discovery of the ingenuity and innate potentials of the corps members was made possible because the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps mandated them to deploy serving corps members for the fight against COVID-19.
Kehinde however advised that classroom education was not enough; that there was need for every youth to acquire a skill as well as stressed the dire need for sustainable proactive policies that would guarantee local content consumption to enable youths to succeed in their vocations.
