The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi, gave the description when he received in audience some delegates from the NYSC led by Mr. John Abhuere of the corps welfare and inspection office.

Governor Nnamani noted that the NYSC had provided an opportunity for many Nigerian youths to see and interact with their fellow Nigerians from other parts of the country as well as empowered them.

According to the Governor, "The NYSC is a veritable instrument for national development, considering the role it has played over the last 30 years, in addition to developing, empowering and giving our youths the opportunity see other parts of this country, as well as using the scheme as an instrument to forge national unity, national integration and cohesion."

Governor Nnamani noted that the visit was a further demonstration of the cordial relationship existing between the state government and the NYSC and restated his commitment to improving the welfare of corps members posted to the state for their service year.

"As far as we are concerned, our role is to provide the enabling environment, not just for the NYSC to thrive but for he public and private sector to thrive in Enugu State and we have done that very well since we came into office in 1999," the governor said.

He commended the management of the establishment for choosing Enugu as the hosting state for the NYSC stakeholders’ conference, promising that the state government would be fully committed and involved in ensuring the success of the programme.

In his words, "We are proud at the fact that the NYSC has chosen the state as the venue for the NYSC Stakeholders Conference coming up in November... and we will do everything within our limited resources to make that conference a huge success."

Earlier in his speech, Mr. Abhuere, who led the delegation on behalf of the NYSC Director General, noted that they came to brief the Governor about their stakeholders’ conference scheduled to take place in Enugu from November 5 - 8, 2006.

Mr. Abhuere told the Governor that the choice of the state was based on the fact that when the scheme was introduced in 1973, Enugu was among the first states to host the first batch of corps members and therefore, appealed to the state governor to assist them financially and with other logistics, to make the conference a reality and a success.

In his words, "The Director General of NYSC has asked me to formally inform you that from the 5th to 8th of November 2006, the NYSC will be hosting her all stakeholders’ conference in Enugu and this is why we are here to solicit your support first."

Mr. Abhuere stated that the stakeholders forum was arranged to help ascertain the progress and activities of the NYSC so far with a view to analyzing its impact in national development.

He commended Governor Nnamani for his laudable achievements which he pointed out needed no advertisement.

"Enugu was yet to play host to this conference of the service corps. The achievements of this government need no advertisement; the Head of State was here not too long ago and reaffirmed this. We in the NYSC are very proud to be associated with Enugu State."

He disclosed that the historical importance of Enugu State in the development of Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized, adding that this had ignited the spirit of nationalism and is still being enjoyed today.