The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa has tasked members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to be ambassadors of peace and not be tools in the hands of enemies of the State.
General Musa, in a statement by the Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, gave the charge during the security awareness for corps members in the South-West region.
The CDS who spoke through the Commander Godwin Egbunu, leading the team at the NYSC Camp in Ogun State, stressed the need for Corps members to be patriotic and be ambassadors of peace.
He said while the military was carrying out kinetic operations across the country and recognised the need to win the hearts and minds of the citizens through non-kinetic engagements.
The CDS charged corps members to be circumspect on their social media use in order not to be purveyors of fake news.
He further urged them to shun drug abuse and lead by examples in their places of primary assignments.
Also speaking in his presentation, Major Ayo Omojokun urged the Corps members to be security conscious by knowing the culture of the people as well as respecting same.
He described security as the business of everyone, stressing “be aware of your surroundings, know your environment, know the police stations and community leaders and keep relevant contacts.”
Omojokun further urged them to avoid sharing live location updates on social media and inform third party’s about their movement.
He said, “Be security conscious, stop posting live locations and keep your family informed of your movements”.
State Coordinator of NYSC in Ogun State, Mrs Olayinka Nasamu highlighted the importance of the exercise targeting Corps members.
“We need to tell them that in their own interest, they shouldn’t join any company because it is part of security.
“The use of social media is very important and we always preach against negative use of social media. So, coming to tell them apart from hearing from us non-uniform people is going to make an impact in them. It’s a good initiative and we need to keep it up,” she said.
Reacting to abduction of Corps members, Nasamu said the NYSC has provided basic support lines to help Corps members navigate such situations.
“The moment they get to camp, we make available phone numbers of Police Stations, DSS focal persons and even my personal number in our state,” she said.
