The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Sule Kazaure, had on Thursday said that the newly introduced biometric clearance of corps members will eliminate payment of allowances to absentee and ghost corps members.
Kazaure disclosed this at the opening of a training workshop on biometric clearance of corps members for South West officers of the scheme in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The workshop was entitled ‘Ensuring Accountability in Corps Members’ Activities Using ICT.’
DAILY POST gathered that similar trainings had been held in the North West, and South East, as well as two pilot centres – Lagos and Abuja.
The implementation of the initiative is expected to begin in the South West geo-political zone of the country after the workshop. It will also be taken to other geo-political zones of the country.
Kazaure who spoke through the Director, Corps Welfare, Mrs. Bose Okakwu, said the workshop was organised to give participants the requisite knowledge in Information Technology based clearance and monitoring of corps members in line with the anti-corruption crusade of President Mohammad Buhari.
The initiative, he was optimistic, would eliminate, “the sharp practice of payment of allowances to corps members, who are not on ground to serve the Father Land,” adding that the biometric clearance would be used for the weekly Community Development Services (CDS) and monthly clearance.
He warned that corps members, who miss the biometric clearance without approval will not be considered for payment of their monthly allowances, adding that information generated through the biometric clearance exercise would form the basis for the determination of disciplinary cases.
Kazaure stated further that, “It is in keeping our operations abreast in the prevailing technology trend that the NYSC scheme in 2014 took a giant stride in ensuring that the mobilisation, deployment, registration, and relocation processes of corps members are ICT based.
“This new process has, however, received great ovation from the public for its positive impact in areas such as elimination of sharp practices perpetuated by fraudulent individuals and reduction of errors in our data and workload on our staff, Corps members and other stakeholders.
“The improvement on the new process also brought about the introduction of the use of biometrics for mobilisation and registration if corps members at orientation camps, which has not only helped in fast-tracking the process but also reduced impersonation and registration in proxy, including ineligible graduates.
“This resounding feat further reaffirmed our determination to adopt the use of biometric in the clearance of corps members for both weekly CDS and the monthly clearance . It is imperative to state that the feedback received from North West zone, South East zone, and the two pilot locations -Lagos and FCT, are very encouraging and positive and I believe the South West zone will follow suit.”
The Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Mrs. Christy Uba, said the ‘NYSC LGAS Attendance and Clearance System,’ was designed to enhance adequate monitoring and monthly clearance of corps members, including CDS at the various places of primary assignment, using their fingerprints and personal data.
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