NYSC pledges support to Oyo govt in fight against COVID-19

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Oyo State has said that the capacity and capabilities of corps members deployed to state would be harnessed in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs Grace Ogbuogebe,  NYSC Coordinator in the state, made the pledge in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday in Ibadan.

Correspondent recalls that the NYSC in Oyo recently donated cartons of hand sanitisers, face masks and liquid hand wash produced by some Corps members to the State Government.

Ogbuogebe said that since the outbreak of the pandemic, Corps Members had been challenged to complement what the government was doing to curb its spread.

She said that the directive by the Director General of the scheme, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim since the outbreak, had spurred  corps members to  venture into the production of  protective items to complement efforts of the state government in curbing the virus.

The state coordinator further stated that the items, produced by the corps members under the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) project, were 99 per cent World Health Organisation (WHO) standard.

She said that the corps members were not deterred by the cost, but what it could achieve towards the fight against the pandemic.

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According to her, the NYSC SAED project was in collaboration with banks and other agencies who gave micro-credit to corps members to mass produce the items.

“The scheme has the capacity for mass production of the hand sanitisers, branded re-usable face mask and liquid hand wash”, she said.

Ogbuogebe also said that the Oyo State Government through the supervising Ministry of Youth and Sports had always supported the scheme in the state.

“In this trying period which requires collective efforts and expertise, the NYSC, Oyo State, has taken up the challenge to assist the state government within its capacity to combat the pandemic.

“The items recently donated to the government include four cartons of hand sanitisers (500ml, 200ml, 100ml), two cartons of re-usable face masks and two cartons of liquid hand wash (500ml).

“The Oyo state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr Seun Fakorede, who received the donation appreciated the corps members and assured that the items will be judiciously used in the fight against COVID-19 in the state,” she said.