Val Day: Governor pledges to pay for weddings  

JETHRO IBILEKE/Asaba

Apparently revelling in the spirit of Valentine day celebration, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has promised to bankroll expenses of wedding ceremonies of all youth corps members serving in the state who intend to get married to one another.

Uduaghan who announced this in Asaba Thursday, at the passing out parade of the 2012 Batch A corps members, called out the corps members who intend to get married to one another and promised to sponsor any genuine move for marriage between the corps members.

He also directed that all such intending couples register their names with the Secretary of the state government once marriage plans have been consummated.

Governor Uduaghan with the corps members

Other highlights of the passing out parade include various cash awards ranging from N500,000 to N1 million each for 11 outstanding corps members who distinguished themselves in their area of primary assignments.

The governor said the cash awards was to encourage youths to channel their efforts towards self-employment instead of relying on white collar jobs.

Other awards dished out to corps members who excelled in the NYSC DG games in Abuja includes the relay quartet, N400,000 each, the football team N250,000 each, 100 meters race N200,000, while their coaches received N500,000 each.

Explaining that the cash award was not a display of wealth, Dr Uduaghan said that the import was to encourage youth self-employment and promote Human capital development in the state.

“What we are doing is to assist corps members to establish businesses especially viable businesses that have good feasibility studies. It is also to promote economic boom in the state because we will encourage the corps members to encourage our people. The corps members should not go to their states to bring their own people because we will resist such a move. The condition is that they will employ our own people,” he said.

The governor who restated the determination of his administration to build a state beyond oil, said empowering the corps members through micro credit scheme would enable the state achieve the mission.

In what looked like a question and answer session, the governor asked the outgoing corps members whether they were interested in establishing their businesses in the state and their answer was a thunderous yes.

The governor therefore promised to encourage many corps members interested in establishing their own businesses in the state with micro credit loans provided their business outfits have the potential of employing other youths.

Reacting to the failure of some local government areas to pay corps members their state allowance, he directed the state Head of Service, Mr. Okey Ofili to within one week period pay the outgoing corps members their allowances.

Earlier in his address, the State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mr. Joseph Ezechukwu announced that 5 corps members had their service year extended for 1 year because they absconded from their area of primary assignment while 23 others who committed various offences will have their service year also extended from 2 weeks to 4 months.

He also announced that 11 corps members excelled and received various awards from the governor and the Chairman NYSC governing board even as he disclosed that a corps member Mr. Obinna Anyanwu emerged the overall best corps member of the year.

Mr. Ezechukwu commended the state government for the fast tempo of construction work going on at the NYSC orientation camp and pledged their support to the state government.

In a brief remark, the Chairman, NYSC governing board, Comrade Ovuzorie Macaulay, enjoined the corps members to pursue the lofty ideas of the NYSC skill acquisition programme to be gainfully employed.

He commended them for their contributions towards transforming the communities they worked.