Medical practitioner condemns calls to scrap NYSC scheme in Nigeria

A medical consultant with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Dr Haruna Shehu, has condemned the call by some Nigerians for government to scrap the NYSC scheme.

Shehu gave the commendation at the Angwan-Bassa community in the Gwagwalada Area Council, FCT during the inauguration of a refurbished
borehole project embarked upon by an NYSC member, Dr Grace Obiefuna.

The reports that the ceremony also featured medical outreach in which members of the community were offered free medical consultation and treatment.

Shehu commended Obiefuna who hails from Anambra State for embarking on such a project aimed at promoting healthy living within the community.

He noted that the NYSC scheme was a laudable programme of the federal government aimed at promoting unity in the country.

“If not for NYSC, I would not have known Imo state and because of the good experience I had during my service year, I stayed back in Imo for sometime after the programme before coming to Abuja.

“It is true that the service year has its own challenges but the calls to scrap the scheme are not in the interest of this country.

“This is because the borehole project we are inaugurating now is a product of NYSC, executed by somebody who is not from the FCT,” the medical practitioner said.

Shehu called on corps members not to allow negative events created by miscreants to dampen their enthusiasm for the unity of the country.

In her remarks, Obiefuna said her interest in the borehole project and medical outreach in the community followed the high prevalence of water-borne disease, including schistosomiasis, among the community
members.

She said the disease was a parasitic infection caused by a worm, schistosoma haematobium, and which could be acquired through contact with infected water bodies.

He said the worm, after penetrating the skin, usually led to the passage of bloody urine by the infected individual.

Obiefuna said the disease was predominant in most communities in Gwagwalada Area Council, noting that its prevention was cheaper than the control and management.

“May I remind all that the challenges of addressing health issues at this level falls under the primary health care in which the local government is the custodian.

“It will be appreciated if every local government looks into the prevalence of such diseases and at least ensure portable water, public toilets and good recreational water source for children in the rural communities,” she said.

Mr Abdulsalam Alhassan, the Gwagwalada NYSC Zonal Inspector, in his remarks challenged other corps members to embark on projects aimed at making impact in the communities they found themselves during the service year.

He said the water project was initially executed by the FCTA in 2007 but stopped functioning after two years, disclosing that the Angwan-Bassa community had since 2009 relied on stream water for both drinking and
domestic use.

Some of the community members who spoke to NAN at the occasion commended Obiefuna for the project, noting that the reactivation of the borehole would reduce the incidence of outbreak of diseases in the community.(NAN)