By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Assistant National Commandant of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) in charge of legal services, Barrister Buhari Yerima, and the Niger state Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Comrade Jibrin Muregi, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently assent to the Bill giving legal backing to the Peace Corps in the general interest of youths.
Addressing a press conference in Minna yesterday, Yerima explained that signing the bill into law would provide jobs for the youth most of whom were presently unemployed.
Yerima said the assent of the Peace Corps Bill would enable the federal government to adequately fund the organisation “which now solely depends on voluntary donations, sale of application forms and training fees.”
He said the Corps had successfully developed and empowered over 138,000 youths across the country, adding that “it is worthy to note that the recent passage of a bill for an Act to establish the Peace Corps of Nigeria by the two chambers of the National Assembly is to give statutory backing to this organisation and to enable the federal government to make adequate budgetary allocation to take care of training and recruitment.”
He dismissed allegations of extortion, saying that the Corps was selling application forms for N1, 500, while successful candidates legitimately paid N40, 000 for their training expenses, including uniforms, accommodation, certificates and guest lecturers’ fees.
Also speaking, Muregi appealed to President Buhari not to hesitate in signing the Peace Corps Bill, adding that it was strategic to the development of youths nationwide.
“President Buhari should sign the bill without wasting much time because it will take off the youths from the streets. There is no reason people should castigate the Peace Corps in bad light after the organisation has meritoriously served the nation for over 18 years in voluntary capacity,” he said.