NYSC HIRD INITIATIVE: OCI Foundation At Abuja Ceremony (News Report/Pics/Video); Announces Plan To Expand NYSC Partnership With Cervical Cancer Screening And Treatments (8/2/24)

The OCI Foundation has honoured the invitation from the Director General (DG) of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) to the “Special Health Initiative For Rural Dwellers (HIRD)”, a program organised by the Directorate’s Headquarters at the Junior Secondary School, Gosa-Sarki, Abuja.

The event, chaired by the NYSC DG himself, featured speeches by key partners of the NYSC, of which the OCI Foundation is among.

Delivering a speech, the leader of the OCI Foundation delegation, Dr Fatina Inusa Anga, noted that the lofty ideas behind the HIRD program align fully well with the mission and vision of the OCI Foundation, particularly with its signature “Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Anti-cancer Health Campaign, on which a partnership with the NYSC already exists.

Dr Fatima pointed out that the technology-driven ArOY Health Campaign became part of the regular NYSCs orientation activities following a colorful flag-off ceremony on February 3, 2022.

The NYSC’s ArOY Campaign, which had its first cohort with the 2022 Batch A Stream 1 cohort, has since then been delivered across all the Twelve Streams and Six Batches in most of the 37 NYSC orientation camps.

“An estimated one million Nigerian youths have been reached with the life-saving, educating, and exciting anti-cancer messages of the ArOY Health Campaign over its two years and 12 editions of existence”, Dr Fatima added.

At the event, the OCI Foundation also signaled its intention to expand its existing partnership with the NYSC by introducing free mobile cervical cancer screening and treatment services into the orientation activities. The Foundation already delivers this as part of its Gynocular Cancer Project.

Alongside Dr. Fatima, other OCI Foundation team members in attendance were Mrs Esther Akor, Ms Felicia Terdoo Dagu, Mr Luter Ikyobo, Miss Chinwe Igwe, and a number of other corps members volunteering for the OCI Foundation within the FCT.