Olawunmi’s night-out with NYSC members in Taraba Camp

IT was a surprise when the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Brigadier-General Johnson Olawunmi, announced that he would like to spend a night at one of the orientation camps across the country, not a few thought he might not mean it. But penultimate Tuesday, the NYSC boss was at the Taraba State orientation camp where he did not only spend the night, but also had dinner with the corps members.

Apart from the fact that he was the first chief executive of the scheme to do that, the choice of Taraba State was very instructive going by the security situation in the North eastern part of the country. A senior member of staff in the director-general’s office, who did not want his name in print, said if the director-general had chosen a state like Lagos, many would have dismissed it as no big deal.

It turned out to be a night of fun and razzmatazz as the director-general was treated to a performance by the corps members who also had the privilege of cooking his dinner, which he also shared with them.
In a rare display of love, the NYSC boss gave surprise birthday presents to corps members whose birthdays fell on those two days ( May12 and May 13) that he was in the camp. But the package wasn’t known until when he was addressing the corps members. He had contacted the IT consultant to the NYSC to supply him with the birthdays of corps members having their orientation camp in Taraba whose birthdays fell on the two days.

Armed with this, the NYSC boss decided to call the names of the birthday corps members one by one while addressing them. Some came out while others, apparently not sure why the director-general should single them out, did not come out initially. But for those who came out, the director-general asked if their birthdays were either that day or a day earlier and when they responded in the affirmative, he congratulated them and presented them with cakes. Seeing the surprise package that their colleagues have received, they too came out and received their birthday presents, Adeosun Azeez Adetokunbo, one of the celebrants said the feeling was awesome.

Akande Shade Olaide, another birthday girl, said she was very happy at the director-general’s gesture. Uzoka Eberechukwu Success, another corps member whose birthday was celebrated by the director-general said she was short of words at what the NYSC boss did.

His visit ended with the inauguration of three new office rooms built by the NYSC State Secretariat at its complex in Jalingo.