Joseph Bakare
The Director General, DG, of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brigadier General YD Ahmed, has urged Corps Members to utilize the opportunities of the service year to contribute their immense quota to national unity and socio-economic development of the country.
Ahmed disclosed this while addressing Corps Members at the NYSC Cross River State Orientation Camp in Obubra and their colleagues at Ebonyi State Orientation Camp in Afikpo.
He commended the previous batches of Corps Members since 1973 till date, for their selfless services through the improvement of the education, health, agriculture, rural development, awareness creation on government policies and other critical sectors of the economy.
Ahmed urged the Corps Members to emulate their predecessors and also write their names in the anals of history as good ambassadors of the Scheme.
He advised them to embrace the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme of the NYSC, which was prepared to make them self independent and employers of labour.
“Be obedient to all the constituted authorities, have a free mind and be hardworking, the sky will be your limit.
Wherever you are posted to, try and respect the culture and tradition of your host communities and also be of good conduct within and outside the Orientation Camp”, he said.
Speaking further, the Director General warned the Corps Members against improper dressing with the NYSC uniform, adding that anyone caught would be sanctioned.
The NYSC Cross River State Coordinator, Mr Andrew Zemoh informed the Director General that a total of 1,696 Corps Members comprising 851 Males and 845 Females were registered in camp.
Similarly, the Ebonyi State Coordinator, Mrs Mercy Bamai disclosed that all the registered 1,353 Corps Members comprising 696 Males and 657 Females have adjusted to camp life.
King Charles’s coronation watched by peak TV audience of 20m
Event was most watched broadcast of year but audience smaller than 29m who watched Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
The coronation of King Charles was watched by a peak television audience of 20 million Britons on Saturday, according to official viewing figures.
This makes Saturday’s event the most watched TV broadcast of the year by some way, but the audience is substantially smaller than the 29 million Britons who watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
The viewing figures for the coronation at Westminster Abbey may have been boosted by the poor weather in parts of the UK, which forced people to stay inside and meant outdoor viewing parties were largely empty due to the rain.
The vast majority of the audience watched the BBC’s coverage, which was helmed by Huw Edwards and broadcast across BBC One, BBC Two and the BBC News channel to a peak audience of 15.5 million. ITV’s coverage topped out at 3.6 million viewers and Sky’s coverage peaked at 800,000 across Sky News and Sky Showcase, according to official Barb viewing figures provided by agency Digital-i.
Before the coronation, there had been a dispute with newspaper groups – and the smaller channels GB News and TalkTV – over access to footage. They were upset that the BBC was only willing to share live footage of the coronation at a very high price. Meanwhile, the Guardian reported concernswithin the BBC about a policy of submitting some footage to the royal palace for approval.
There was limited airtime given to anti-monarchist views during Saturday’s broadcasts, despite concern over the police arresting the head of the leading republican movement hours before the coronation.
The television viewing figures do not include the small but substantial number of people who will have watched the coronation through livestreams and through non-traditional broadcast methods such as YouTube.
Some channels chose to ignore the coronation altogether, with mixed results. Channel 4 convinced 138,000 people that they would prefer to spend a rainy Saturday morning watching Rowan Atkinson in Johnny English Strikes Again rather than try to glimpse King Charles III being anointed with holy oil from a 12th-century ceremonial spoon.
As we mark the first coronation since 1953, now is the time to reflect on the royal family and its role in the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world. Thank you for joining us today from Nigeria. The post-Elizabethan age offers an opportunity for an honest conversation – not just about who wears the crown, but about where power lies. Is this a system that requires new thinking to bring it into the 21st century? Source Guardian
