The Niger State Government has committed to delivering a new permanent orientation camp for the National Youth Service Corps within 12 months, with Governor Mohammed Umar Bago pledging at a groundbreaking ceremony for phase one of the facility at Paiko.

Bago assured that funds for the construction had already been appropriated and directed the contractor to proceed without delay.

"By the grace of God, in 12 months from today, we will come back here and commission phase one of this camp. To the contractor, we don't give a job without money. The money for this job has been appropriated, and there is no time for complaint or for delay," he said.

The governor also acknowledged the host community for making 8 hectares of land available for the project, describing the completed facility as one that would rank among the best orientation camps in the country.

The NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, who also spoke at the ceremony, described the groundbreaking as a demonstration of Niger State's commitment to youth development and national unity, noting that the new camp would replace one of the oldest and most challenging facilities in the scheme's network.

"The new Permanent Orientation Camp, for which we are about to commence the groundbreaking ceremony, is a dream come true; it replaces one of the oldest and most challenging camps, and from the brief we have all received today, it is designed to provide modern, secure and conducive facilities for the training and orientation of Corps Members," Nafiu stated.

The Director General noted that Niger State had consistently supported NYSC activities and provided welfare for corps members over the years, and commended the state for joining Lagos, Adamawa and Gombe in providing new orientation infrastructure.

Nafiu also underscored the broader significance of orientation camps within the scheme, describing them as the foundation upon which the values of service, discipline and patriotism were instilled in corps members.

"It is at the Orientation Camp that young Nigerian graduates drawn from across the country form bonds that transcend ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries," he said.