‘NYSC has no ghost corps members’

THE Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, has debunked a media report in one of a national daily that there were “ghost corps members,” serving in different parts of the country.

Olawumi who spoke during the 2015 Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) Desk Officers’ Training Workshop with the theme: “Broadening the Horizon of FOIA Desk Officers for Enhanced Compliance,” in Abuja, stated that the report might have come up as a result of the failure of the newspaper to cross check information at their disposal, or their inability to access the right information.

He therefore directed NYSC Desk Officers across the country to always comply with the FoI Act.

“I am imploring you! Please, make information available, if you don’t do that, you are giving people the opportunity to fill all the gaps with whatever they have,” he appealed… With the commitment of the present administration to fighting corruption, promotion of the rule of law and other fundamentals of good governance, the implementation of the FoIA must be given additional impetus not only by the NYSC, but all stakeholders in the Nigerian project.

He continued, “It is in furtherance of this that, I seize the opportunity to announce that corps members will be used to enlighten our citizens at the grassroots on their right to seek for information on government policies and their implementation.

Also speaking, the NYSC Director of Press and Public Relation, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, said the scheme had demonstrated commitment towards the implementation of FoIA since 2011 when it was signed into law.

This commitment, she said, was obvious through the workshop for the desk officers, which had been on since 2012, to equip them for optimal performance.

Head, FoI Unit, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Stella Anukam explained that the desire to have a better Nigeria informed the establishment of FoIA.

“The reason for FoIA is to have a better Nigeria, it is not a cliché, or an old law, it is a tool to promote good governance, and to have a better Nigeria. FOIA is a paradigm shift from our old way of doing things. If you know that you have done your work well, then make it available,” she submitted.