Governor Yahaya Bello, the executive governor of Kogi State, has approved a 100% increase in the allowance of National Youth Service Corps members sent to Kogi State for their mandated one-year service.
This is stated in a statement published on Tuesday in Lokoja and made accessible to journalists by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Onogwu Mohammed.
The governor was stated to have approved the increase in light of present economic realities as well as the overall value of the NYSC scheme to national and state development.
Speaking on Tuesday at the NYSC 2023 Batch ‘B’ Stream 2 closing ceremony at the State’s Orientation Camp, Asanya, in Kogi State’s Kabba Bunu Local Government Area, the Governor also announced a N37.7 million grant for logistics support for Youth Corps members as they move to their place of primary assignments, and he urged private sector employers to prioritise their wellbeing.
He charged the Corps members with good behaviour and encouraged them to embrace the idea of ‘One Nigeria’ and respect all citizens as fellow Nigerians, regardless of ethnic or religious differences.
The state’s NYSC Coordinator, Pastor (Mrs.) Adebimpe Williams, and the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Hon. Idris Musa, commended Governor Yahaya Bello for his administration’s longstanding support for the programme.
She also charged the Corps members to prioritize their assignments at their places of primary assignment, emphasizing that absenteeism remained a serious violation that the scheme sternly warns against.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
