By Chesa R Chesa

President Muhammadu Buhari has applauded the former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd.), for the wisdom of setting up the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1973.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Friday in Abuja, President Buhari said the scheme had truly achieved the goal of national integration.

He said this was by providing opportunities for cross cultural interactions and establishing formidable bridges for improved understanding.

President Buhari congratulated the former Head of State, all the former and incumbent Directors-General of the Corps, “for inspiring and sustaining a 50-year legacy that had strengthened a web of solidarity and bolstered loyalty to the nation”.

He said “the scheme had also broadened the horizon of citizens, promoted civic responsiveness, created a better understanding of various individual and ethnic identities, their diversities and underscored the bottom-line of the common values of fairness, justice, peace and unity”.

Bihari noted that the NYSC had also helped in resettling people of various tribes in different parts of the country, exploration of entrepreneurship and business opportunities in places, and enabling a new culture of oneness, brotherliness and neighborliness.

President Buhari affirmed that the scheme must be sustained, with a constant reminder of the history, structure and purpose that should not be abused, trivialised or undermined for any reason.

This, he said, could be achieved by keeping a focus on the larger picture that ”Nigeria’s unity is a process and a collective responsibility that must not be negotiated.”

The president wished potential corps members all the best as they moved to different parts of the country, to share and explore new experiences of the diversity of Nigeria.

He recalled that one of the joys and highlights of his administration had been the annual ritual of receiving corps members in his country home in Daura, Katsina state, during Eid el-Fitr sallah and asking about their welfare.

He stated that two visiting presidents from Niger Republic and Guinea Bissau had participated and enjoyed such interactions.

The president commended the Nigerian Army, Directors-General of the NYSC, and various private and public institutions for providing the enabling environment for the success of the scheme.