NYSC DG explains ‘ban’ on Hijabs in camps
By; Elekwachi Chinedum, Abuja.
The Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Johnson Olawumi has said he did not say the use of Hijabs is out rightly prohibited in orientation camps by female Corps Members as was widely reported in the media.
He rather said he was specifically referring to the long Hijabs which he said terrorists wore and plant IEDs under to carry out their dastardly acts.
Olawumi, who made the clarification while fielding questions from journalists at the swearing-in ceremony of the Corps Members in the FCT orientation camp in Kubwa, said the Corps Members are only allowed to wear the short ones.
He said the scheme do not have powers to ban Hijabs, but can only assume the position of appeal.
“We can’t ban the use of Hijabs. We don’t have such powers. The misrepresentation has to do with the standards. We were just appealing that rather than the full long Hijabs where you can only see the eyes, our female Corps Members should only use the ones which will make it easier for us to easily identify them and also others will not take advantage of it” he stated.
On the issue of rejection of Corps Members, the DG explained that no punishment is meted on any employer who refuses to accept Corps Members for their primary assignment, but advised them to maximize the latent potentials inherent in the Corps Members.
“I learnt that there is a circular for MDAs that none of them should reject Corps Members. But for the private sector, we can only continue to appeal to them to take advantage of the potentials in these young men and women for the growth of their companies” he added.
Earlier, the Minister, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Alhaji Mohammed Musa Bello, congratulated the Corps Members on their successful completion of their tertiary education, maintaining that their deployment had placed them in position to effectively partner with the administration for the improvement of the quality of lives in the FCT.
He enjoined them to desist from excusing themselves from the camp as much as possible in order to enjoy the full benefit of the orientation course, describing the camp as a training ground for the task ahead.
Bello further stressed the need for them to be security conscious and vigilant at all times in view of the recent development in the country, advising them to report any anomalies to the security agents on camp or other camp officials.
