Acting Governor of Kaduna state, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, has advised graduates to continue with their educational pursuits and capacity building, to enable them have strong social and economic footing in the changing world.
Dr Balarabe who gave advice to the corps members of the Batch B Stream of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the closing ceremony of their orientation course, pointed out that traditional jobs in the public and private sectors are no longer available.
According to the Acting Governor, only graduates with higher emotional and social quotients are able to find their footings in the fast-changing world.
Dr Balarabe argued that although certificates do not necessarily guarantee employment, good education will however prepare them for the social and economic skills to navigate the turbulence of life.
“It is along this line that I encourage young people to continue to seek educational opportunities so that they can be better placed to grapple with the upheavals tossed up by modernism,’’ she said.
The Acting Governor further said that the purpose of the orientation course is to prepare them for their primary assignments, adding that it has equipped them with the basics of the local language and culture.
Dr Balarabe also added that the corps members have ‘’also been instilled with capacities for endurance and discipline which you need to succeed during the service year.”
She described the youths as the most productive sector of Nigeria’s demography, explaining that Nigeria’s population is dominated by youths with a median age being 18.4 years.
The Acting Governor cited a new World Bank report which stated that 74 per cent of global growth of youth population aged 18–23, will be in Nigeria and nine other countries up to 2035.
She called on the corps members to take their host communities as their homes and to uphold the lessons of unity and service to the fatherland in their areas of primary assignments.
While commending the NYSC for the success of the orientation course, she pledged Kaduna State Government’s continued support to the scheme, for the attainments of its noble objectives of promoting national unity and cohesion.
“On our part, the Kaduna State Government will continue to give the National Youth Service Scheme maximum support towards the attainment of its objectives. In this regard, government will do its best to provide the conducive environment for you to carry out your assignment,’’ she promised.
Dr Balarabe called on employers not to reject corps members posted to them, imploring them to make NYSC members comfortable, adding that they are on a national assignment.
