Story/Pics: OCI Foundation at the 2024 NYSC CDS Stakeholders Workshop (Abuja, Nigeria; 3/10/24)

The OCI Foundation has honoured an invitation to the “2024 NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) Stakeholders Workshop”, which was held on October 3, 2024 at the National Secretariat of the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) in Asokoro, Abuja, Nigeria.

The Workshop, titled “Building Strategic Partnership for Impactful Community Development” is an annual formal engagement between the NYSC and its key partners that allows the sustenance of collaborations and strengthening of CDS activities for the overall development of communities in Nigeria.

The OCI Foundation’s delegation to the event was led by Dr Abdullahi Aliyu Rufai, the organisation’s Networking Manager and Permanent Liaison to the NYSC. He was accompanied by Mr Luter Ikyobo and other team members in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

It should be noted that, through the NYSC-OCI Foundation partnership that was launched in February 2022 by the then Nigerian First Lady, Her Excellency, Dr. (Mrs) Aisha Buhari, the OCI Foundation reaches over half a million Nigerian youths annually with its novel “Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Anti-cancer Health Campaign. The ArOY Health Campaign is currently in its 15^th Edition (as at the time of this publication) and is held six times a year. It targets all 37 NYSC orientation camps across Nigeria with its life-saving messages against breast and cervical cancers. Details of all 15 editions to date are HERE.

The Foundation also sponsors raffle draws and social media contests for each Stream and Batch of the NYSC corps members as part of its efforts to empower Nigerian youths as they promote and propagate anti-cancer messages to Nigerians.

In the past, the OCI Foundation also promoted social and public welfare programs among the corps members by sponsoring activities like pageantries and quizzes, as well as cultural, singing, and eating Competitions.

The OCI Foundation aims to expand these activities and introduce health screening centres across NYSC camps in Nigeria, and is currently awaiting further approvals from the NYSC in order to effect these.