The National Youth Service Corps was established in 1973 with the mandate to raise a class of patriotic, morally and physically disciplined Nigerian youths who graduated from Universities and Polytechnics to undertake the National Service. During the mandatory one year service, corps members live among and within the host communities facilitating unity and integration as well as championing community development by executing projects jointly with the people of their host communities.
Without doubt the commitment of the scheme’s Management and proper guidance of Corps members has resulted in great contributions to the social, political and economic transformation of the nation. The NYSC remained in the vanguard of the nation’s drive to promote self-help initiatives in rural and urban communities through the various development programmes executed by corps members with active participation of Community members. I am happy to note the impact of these activities in our communities in the areas of education, health care delivery, agriculture, communication, infrastructure, technology, economic empowerment, poverty eradication, social services and above all national consciousness and socio-cultural regeneration.
The present day global economic downturn and its attendance influence on the national, state and local Government economy requires deft planning and strategic approaches to maximise gains of interventions especially when it can be provided at minimum cost using the available manpower resources of the National Youth Service Corps; the easily trainable Corps members, pool of professionals and dynamic as well as articulate young men and women of the scheme offers great hope in galvanizing the development of our communities.
The production of this handbook is therefore timely as it offers clear operational guidelines that will give focus to our Corps members in community development and like never before prepare them to meet the national development aspiration.
I am very happy to be part of this change in NYSC and to write the foreword to this document.
I recommend this handbook for use in the scheme as a tool to reinvigorate Community Development Service programmes.