Our correspondent reports that the four members representing others countrywide came to convey their “deepest gratitude” to the president over the recent increase in their monthly allowances from N19,800 to N33,000.

The NYSC members were led to the State House by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare and the Director General of the scheme, Brigadier General Ibrahim Shehu.

Speaking at the event, President Buhari described the NYSC scheme as a ”laudable one that needs to be sustained as it affords the opportunity for Nigerian youths to understand the country better”.

He said: “People come from far and wide; some from Victoria Island in Lagos have not even been to Ikeja.

”They now find themselves in Daura and other parts of the country. Whenever I go to my town, I get in touch with members; some of them from Lagos, some from Port Harcourt.”

President Buhari, who praised General Yakubu Gowon for the initiative, said: “Whenever I meet General Gowon up till today, I thank him for initiating the NYSC.

”It is a nationalist and patriotic thinking that led to the development of the scheme.”

Earlier, the NYSC members had showered praises on the president, saying ”the implementation in January, when we least expected it brought tears of joy to us as we had doubts of the promises earlier made.

“You have demonstrated that you are a loving and caring father committed to the welfare of his children.”

They also reiterated their commitment to do their best during their period in the scheme.

“The increase is a wake-up call to us to show more commitment to the affairs of our fatherland.

”We are great stakeholders in our collective determination of building a prosperous and united Nigeria, the future belongs to us,” they said.

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Buhari said that reforming a country that had been pushed to the brink of near decay on account of corruption, was always going to come with pains.

ThePresident stated this in his Sallah message to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting period issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday.

Buhari reassured that the pains being experienced would soon be history as administration had put measures in place to uplift the quality of life of all citizens across the country

He said: “But these pains are temporary, the APC administration which I am privileged to lead, is beholden to the ordinary Nigerians and will leave no stone unturned to make their security, welfare and happiness our priority.’’

While congratulating Muslims on completing “this spiritually significant month of sacrifice”, President Buhari stressed the importance of putting the virtues of Islam into practice beyond the fasting season.

He urged them to reflect on the importance of Ramadan in becoming good ambassadors of Islam at all times.

According to him, religion should be the moral compass for all believers in their public and personal lives.

He added that, “if people allow the teachings of their religions to influence their conducts, problems such as corruption, which diverts public funds to private pockets, would have been eliminated in the society.”

The President regretted, however, that “selfishness and greed have overcome people’s conscience so much that they don’t have moral inhibitions in the pursuit of their greeds.

“It is impossible to separate morality from religion, and removing this connection encourages corrupt leaders and other exploiters to commit atrocities against the society.

“I always wonder why any true believer, be they politicians, civil servants or businessmen, would seek to make profits from the misfortunes of others.’’

He also urged ordinary Nigerians to stop glorifying thieves by treating them with disdain for bringing hardships to others.

President Buhari enjoined religious leaders to always pray for peace and unity in the country and avoid making inflammatory utterances that endanger peace or promote conflicts.

The President also appealed to fellow citizens to forgive one another and embrace peace.

In this respect, President Buhari lauded the families of recipients of national honours for showing good examples to Nigerians and urged our country men and women to copy their good examples.

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