The Federal Government has deployed 20 new volunteers to Liberia as part of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) program. The deployment ceremony, held in Abuja, also included the debriefing of 14 volunteers who recently completed their two-year service in Liberia.
Dr. Yusuf Yakub, the Director-General of NTAC, praised the returning volunteers for their significant contributions and for upholding Nigeria’s reputation abroad. He specifically noted their impactful work, including the publication of books.
Yakub also charged the new volunteers with being worthy ambassadors for Nigeria. He urged them to continue the positive legacy of their predecessors in their host communities. The program highlights Nigeria’s ongoing commitment to providing technical assistance and strengthening diplomatic ties in the region.
He recalled the significant impacts of TAC volunteers in their assignment in African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries.
The NTAC D-G gave the example of the previous batch sent to the Gambia.
According to him, two of the volunteers were appointed by the Gambian President to fill the position of Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor in one of that country’s universities.
“Before that set, we also had some set of volunteers who were also appointed as vice chancellor and deputy vice chancellor. in their host country’s University of Technology.
“I encourage the volunteers going out today, to also fly our flag high, so that they will serve humanity, the blacks in Africa and portray the image of Nigeria very well out there,’’ he said.
Yakub thanked President Bola Tinubu for giving special attention to the initiative immediately he came into power.
“This initiative is working not only for Nigerians but for all blacks in Africa in the ACP countries.
“In Nigeria we have great people with great population of over 250 million,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Zakari Usman, the Director of Programme, recalled when NTAC officials visited the volunteers in Liberia early in the year, and some of the volunteers had authored some books.
He underscored the great impact the volunteers had made in that country’s educational sector.
Usman also admonished the new volunteers going to Liberia to be worthy Ambassadors of Nigeria.
Adeleke Roland, a Physicist and the Team Lead of the retuning volunteers from Liberia thanked the federal government for the opportunity given to them.
“The 14 of us had made significant contributions to Liberia’s education system in our respective fields of endeavour.
“Liberia witnessed notable improvements in West African Senior School Certificate Education results due to our efforts,’’ he said.
For his part, Ismail Babatunde, the Team Lead for the deploying volunteers, promised that they would showcase their skills and abundance of the human resources that Nigeria has in their host community.
