Calabar: Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has urged Corps members serving in the state to leverage the Lagos-Coastal Highway, when completed, to open up economic opportunities.
On Friday, he remarked on the swearing-in of the 2025 Batch ‘A’ stream two corps members at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in the Obubra local government area.
Represented by Mr Odum-Ijom Ukam, the state Commissioner for Youth Development, Otu explained that when completed, the 700-kilometre coastal highway would open up economic opportunities, including access to production and marketing centres.
He noted that the opportunities would turn around many people’s lives, including corps members.
Otu urged the newly sworn-in corps members to use their service period to contribute to the socio-economic development of the state and their host communities.
“Every year in the state, our communities enjoy collaborative development with evident activities of corps members at the grassroots level.
“I urge you to combine your natural and academic endowments with this orientation training, like your predecessors, to achieve an enriching service year,” he said.
Otu added that the NYSC scheme had remained relevant and a veritable tool for national unity and integration in contemporary Nigeria.
In her address, Mrs Joke Oyenuga, NYSC Coordinator in Cross River, commended the corps members for successfully graduating from their various institutions.
She disclosed that 1,588 corp members were at camp, 704 males and 884 females.
Oyenuga noted that the three-week orientation course was to prepare them for the compulsory one-year national service.
She said that part of the orientation includes drills, leadership, and entrepreneurial training, such as skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development training.
She urged the corps members to make themselves available for the training, which would enable them to function effectively in the communities where they would be deployed for their primary assignments.
