Delta state governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has rewarded 11 corps members who distinguished themselves in their area of primary assignments with various cash awards ranging from 500,000 to one million naira each.
The governor who announced the awards during the passing out ceremony of the 2012 Batch A corps members in Asaba said the provision of various cash awards was to encourage youths to channel their efforts towards self-employment instead of relying on white collar jobs.
Other awards dished out to corps members who excelled in the NYSC DG games in Abuja includes the relay quartet, 400,000 Naira each, the football team 250,000 Naira each, 100 meters race 200,000 Naira and their coaches received 500,000 Naira each.
Explaining that the cash award was not a display of wealth, Dr Uduaghan said that the import was to encourage youth self-employment and promote Human capital development in the state.
“What we are doing is to assist corp members to establish businesses especially viable businesses that have good feasibility studies. It is also to promote economic boom in the state because we will encourage the corp members to encourage our people. The corpers should not go to their states to bring their own people because we will resist such a move. The condition is that they will employ our own people,” he said.
The governor who restated the determination of his administration to build a state beyond oil, said empowering the corps members through micro credit scheme would enable the state achieve the mission.
In what looked like a question and answer section the governor asked the outgoing corps members whether they were interested in establishing their businesses in the state and their answer was a thunderous yes.
The governor therefore promised to encourage as many corpers interested in establishing their own businesses in the state with micro credit loans provided their business outfits have the potential of employing other youths.
Reacting to the failure of some local government areas to pay corpers their state allowance, he directed the state head of service Mr Okey Ofili to within one week period pay the outgoing corpers their allowances.
He commended the outgoing corpers for faithfully serving the state and contributing to the development of the state.
In his speech the NYSC State Coordinator Mr Joseph Ezechukwu announced that 5 corp members had their service year extended for 1 year because they absconded from their area of primary assignment while 23 others who committed various offences will have their service year also extended from 2 weeks to 4 months.
He also announced that 11 corpers excelled and received various awards from the governor and the Chairman NYSC governing board even as he disclosed that a corps member Mr Obinna Anyanwu emerged the overall best corper of the year.
Mr Ezechukwu commended the state government for the fast tempo of construction work going on at the NYSC orientation camp and pledged their support to the state government.
In a brief address the chairman NYSC governing board Comrade Ovuzorie Macaulay enjoined the corps members to pursue the lofty ideas of the NYSC skill acquisition programme to be gainfully employed.
He commended the corpers for their contributions towards transforming the communities they worked in.
Highlight of the occasion was when the state governor called out corps members who intend to get married to one another and promised to sponsor any genuine move for marriage between the corpers even as he directed them to registers their names with the secretary of the state government once marriage plans has been consummated.
