Sokoto — Sokoto State NYSC Coordinator, Alhaji Usman Mohammed, said the Scheme plans to plant one thousand assorted economic trees across the state, as part of its contribution towards curbing desertification in the North West region.

Speaking to newsmen in his office in Sokoto, Mohammed said the exercise is expected to flag off soon; pointing out that NYSC had already booked for the tree seedlings from the Sokoto Ministry of Forestry and Animal Husbandry.

He stated that the scheme embarked on the exercise as part of efforts to curb the menace of desert encroachment and deforestation in the area.

"The desert is daily encroaching into the state and the North generally and something must be done urgently done to stop this obnoxious development and ugly trend".

Mohammed announced that the scheme will soon set up an NYSC-community based clinic while mobile medical outreaches are to be packaged across the state.

He further stated that the NYSC will provide the manpower for the clinics while the 23 local governments of the state are to provide the drugs and other logistics.

According to him, the scheme would intensify the ongoing mass literacy campaigns, nomadic education as well as the HIV/AIDS, roads safety awareness and the host of other enlightenment programmes in the state.

The NYSC Coordinator explained that the scheme had requested for another NYSC farm, as its former one had been taken over by the state government.

He commended the state government for embarking on the permanent orientation camp, stating that, its capacity should be increased ranging between 2,000 to 3,000 as against the planned 1,800.

He further said that it was supposed to accommodate the envisaged increased number of corps members due to the increase in the number of universities in the country, which may turn out more Corps members.

Mohammed further called for the establishment of an NYSC transit camp in the state by the state government, lamenting that the recurring lack of accommodation for the Corps members after the orientation programme is responsible for the high number of rejection cases of the members.