NYSC, Women Affairs Ministry Partner to Deliver Free Healthcare in Rural Communities

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs have concluded plans to collaborate on the provision of free healthcare services for women and children in rural communities across Nigeria as part of efforts to improve access to quality healthcare and reduce maternal and child mortality.

The proposed partnership emerged during a courtesy visit by the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, to the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, at the ministry's headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking during the meeting, General Nafiu said the NYSC possesses a large pool of healthcare professionals serving in communities nationwide who could be mobilised to support the ministry's health interventions.

He noted that the Scheme has doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, dermatologists, physiotherapists and medical laboratory scientists currently providing free medical services through its Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD), a programme introduced in 2014 to improve healthcare delivery in underserved communities.

The NYSC Director-General also revealed that the recent donation of two mobile medical clinics to the Scheme by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, would significantly enhance the proposed partnership.

According to him, the mobile clinics could be deployed to support the ministry's outreach programmes by providing free medical screening and treatment for women and children in rural areas, thereby contributing to efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality.

Beyond healthcare, General Nafiu proposed collaboration in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development, explaining that the ministry's training facilities could be utilised to strengthen the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.

He said Corps Members would, in turn, transfer the vocational skills acquired during training to women in their host communities, enabling them to earn sustainable incomes and improve their livelihoods.

"We are ready to explore opportunities within the Ministry, particularly the use of your training facilities, to strengthen our Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme. 

"Our Corps Members will, in return, empower women in their communities by equipping them with vocational skills through which they can earn sustainable incomes to support their families," Nafiu said.

He also highlighted the Scheme's longstanding support for the Ministry during International Women's Day and Children's Day celebrations, where Corps Members contribute through cultural displays, music, dance and public sensitisation campaigns.

Responding, the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, described the visit as historic, noting that closer collaboration between the two institutions was long overdue because of their shared commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians.

She expressed the ministry's readiness to partner with NYSC in all the proposed areas, stressing that inter-agency collaboration remains one of the most effective approaches to achieving sustainable national development.

To ensure seamless implementation of the partnership, the minister proposed the appointment of focal persons from both organisations to develop a framework that would define and coordinate the areas of collaboration.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim also commended General Nafiu's leadership of the NYSC, describing him as a quiet achiever whose stewardship has brought stability to the operations of the Scheme.

She further described the NYSC as one of Nigeria's most cherished national institutions, noting that its impact has continued to resonate across generations of Nigerians.

"There is hardly anyone who has not passed through the NYSC. It is an institution that is very dear to all of us. My own daughter is currently serving, and I appreciate how important the Scheme is to her and to the nation," the minister said.