Ibrahim said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2020 batch A pre-orientation meeting of management with Area Coordinators, State Coordinators, camp directors, camp commandants and collaborating agencies.

He said that the coordinators would be held responsibly in the event of the death of any corps member during the exercise.

“The warning is for all the state coordinator to take his or her job seriously, they should not have lackadaisical attitude towards our corps members.

“We want to also let them know that the scheme places more emphasis toward the corps members because they are the future leaders of this country.

“The state coordinators must be up and doing to ensure that the welfare and security of corps members are paramount to them,’’ he said.

Ibrahim said that the 2020 Batch A orientation programme was scheduled to hold in all the orientation camps nationwide from March 10 to March 30.

He commended the collaborating agencies and camp officials on their commitment and teamwork which led to the successes recorded during the 2019 Batch B orientation courses and previous exercise.

Ibrahim said that the meeting was to enable the scheme to evaluate the previous orientation courses, brainstorm and evolve strategies for the success of the forthcoming exercise.

He said the meeting would unveil policies and operational guidelines for implementation in all the orientation camps nationwide.

Ibrahim urged all camp officials to work hard and imbibe team spirit so as to ensure a hitch-free exercise.

“Their experiences during the orientation course play a pivotal role in the overall success of the service year,’’ he said.

Ibrahim said the meeting would tackle issues, such as orientation camp facilities, corps members’ security, management intervention, corps welfare and corps members’ dress code.

He said that the tailors operating in the camps should be warned to observe prescribed limits while adjusting the uniform for corps members or risk being decamped.

According to him, the meeting must pay special attention to the welfare of corps members and camp officials.

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In a statement issued by Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, NYSC’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Ibrahim urged corps members to always adhere to the dress code.

“The DG notes with great concern the negative perception of the scheme’s dress code, arising mostly from some corps members’ disobedience to the dictates of the code.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the scheme has maintained one dress code since May 22, 1973 when it was established, devoid of ethnic, religious or gender bias.

“The code remains a pair of khaki trousers and shirt; crested vest; white vest; a pair of white shorts; a pair of zebra-striped socks; a pair of jungle boots; a pair of canvas; belt and fez cap.

“This depends on camp activity at any point in any time,” she said.

Ibrahim said that the national NYSC camp, predicated on discipline and decency, is a training ground for corps members.

“Any other dress code contrary to the officially-sanctioned one will not promote the course of decency,” he stated.

According to him, it will be reprehensible for a female corps member to embark on obstacle crossing and other physical training activities on camp, including parade, in skirt or gown.

“Those will expose her indecently, thus, leaving little or nothing to imagination.

“The management observed with dismay the defacing of the NYSC uniform by some corps members by reshaping their khaki trousers, making them skin-tight, which unduly expose their curvatures, particularly the female corps members.

“Some others, in the name of religion, turn the pair of trousers issued to them into skirts.

“The scheme, therefore, considers the unwholesome act as an affront to decency on one hand and constituted authority on the other.

“It was for that reason that the scheme came up with the policy of having prospective corps members sign undertaking forms to the effect that they will not deface the NYSC uniform, but abide by the dress code for corps members,” the statement said.

The NYSC director-general clarified that organisation did not issue hijab as part of its dress code.

“Rather, the scheme permits the use of white hijab, which must not be more than shoulder length and must be tucked into the uniform.

“The policy of allowing hijab, which does not deface the NYSC uniform, is not new, as it has been there.

“The NYSC wishes to assure Nigerians and place on record that it will continue to be single-minded in pursuit of its core mandate of achieving a united, integrated, egalitarian and hate-free nation.

“It shall never do anything untoward to undermine or abridge gratuitously the rights of individuals or institutions based on parochial considerations,” he said.

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