Obubra camp rot: NYSC to stop posting corps members to Cross River

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will stop posting corps members to Cross River State after findings revealed the dilapidated state of its orientation camp in Obubra.

Competent sources within the scheme told our reporter that the decision was taken after a recent inspection of the camp facilities by the Director-General, who described the facilities as old and no longer meeting national standards.

According to the source, who craved anonymity, the directive will take effect after the current Batch C, Stream 1 orientation exercise.

“After going through the camp facilities, we discovered that the facilities are old, they are no longer meeting standards. So as a result of that, the Director-General said no more posting of corps members to Cross River State until further notice. In fact, he is even saying they need a brand new camp,” the source disclosed.

“For now, after this stream, because we are in Batch C, Stream 1, Stream 2 will no longer come to the state. We are seeking state government intervention,” he added.

Findings revealed that the poor state of the camp has drastically reduced the number of corps members serving in the state.

Before now, the camp used to host about 2,500 corps members per stream, but presently hosts just over 1,000, with over 700 already processing relocation to other states.

In a year, the state is expected to receive about 6,000 corps members, but for years, the number has plummeted to just over 1,000 due to the decrepit facilities.

The camp, which used to house the former Government Science School, is said to be over 20 years old without any major renovation.

Efforts to get official reaction from the NYSC State Secretariat in Calabar proved abortive as of press time.

Similarly, the Cross River State Commissioner for Youth Development, Ijom Ukam, has not responded to the development.