The Director-General (DG) of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, on Wednesday, urged Corps Members to appreciate the cultural values of their host communities.

He also enjoined them to use the opportunity of the service year to learn more about Nigeria’s natural endowments and explore the values inherent in them.

The DG disclosed the charge during his visit to the 2025 Batch ‘C’ Corps Members at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Wamakko, Sokoto State.

He said: “You are guests here; therefore, you must respect your hosts. Do not look down on their culture and, please, try and understand why they do certain things,” he counseled.”

Nafiu encouraged them to build friendship across ethnic and geographical lines, stressing that such would serve as foundation for successful business collaborations in future in addition to strengthening national unity.

He added, “If you are from the South West and the only friends you make are from the South West, you have wasted this opportunity.”

He advised them to leverage the country’s regional economic strengths, noting that understanding what different zones produced would create natural opportunities for inter-regional trade.

The DG warned the Corps Members against the use of social media for divisive narratives, stressing that they should rely only on genuine sources of information that would promote national unity and integration.

In a statement, the NYSC Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, urged Corps Members to acquire vocational and entrepreneurial skills while managing their finances prudently to enhance their chances of self-employment and financial stability.

Earlier, the NYSC Sokoto State Coordinator, Alhaji Usman Yaro, informed the DG that the State had registered 1,299 Corps Members comprising 762 males and 537 females, all of whom were being carried along in the Camp administration.

Meanwhile, NYSC has reiterated its zero tolerance for fraudulent practices in the mobilization of graduates for national service, emphasizing its commitment to transparency, integrity, and accountability in all its operations.

The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, stated this in Abuja during the 2025 Batch ‘C’ Pre-Mobilization Workshop.

He noted that the Scheme remains dedicated to maintaining high standards of integrity in the deployment of human, technological, and material resources used for mobilization.

Nafiu said the NYSC has, over the years, earned public confidence through its transparent mobilization process and would continue to strengthen its systems to sustain credibility.

He explained that the theme of the workshop, “Enhancing Data Integrity for Credible Mobilization for National Service in Contemporary Times,” was apt, considering the proliferation of unauthorized higher institutions across the country.