…Deploys 20 Doctors to Gambia
By Mercy Gadia Adi
The Director-General of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), Dr. Yusuf Yakub, says plans are underway to commercialise the country’s technical volunteer scheme in order to provide professional services to countries in need, while also tackling unemployment at home.
Yakub disclosed this on Friday in Abuja during the deployment ceremony of 20 NTAC volunteers, comprising doctors and nurses, to The Gambia.
According to him, the commercialisation initiative stems from Nigeria’s abundance of skilled but underemployed professionals, coupled with rising global demand for expertise in different fields.
“You know we have an abundance of unemployed youths in the country, a lot of experts that are not fully engaged, and the whole world is in need of experts to fill some gaps. That informed the need to introduce this initiative,” Yakub said.
He explained that several countries had already expressed interest in tapping into Nigeria’s pool of professionals, citing Jamaica’s recent request for 400 experts as an example of the confidence built in the corps.
The NTAC boss urged the volunteers to serve as worthy ambassadors of Nigeria, stressing that their deployment also reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to sustaining the scheme as a pillar of Nigeria’s soft power diplomacy.
“The abundant human resource is to help impact the lives of our fellow blacks in the spirit of South-South cooperation. By doing this, we are contributing to the development of our sister countries and blacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Above all, we are serving humanity, and to the glory of God, this programme has been given every support by the Tinubu administration,” Yakub said.
Also speaking, Ambassador Zakari Usman, NTAC’s Director of Programmes, described the selection process as rigorous, noting that 20 candidates were chosen from more than 10,000 applications.
He urged the volunteers to maintain good conduct and project the country’s image positively during their service in The Gambia.
Prof. Adanlawo Isaac, a surgeon and the team lead, expressed gratitude for the opportunity, pledging that the volunteers would do their best to uphold Nigeria’s reputation abroad.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the volunteers, who are all medical practitioners, include doctors and nurses. The selected candidates are Awumtiya Nelson, Aishatu Umar, Folake Iyogun, Salim Jaafar, Oyindamola Oladunmiye, Tula Musa, Julmucit Gwapna, and Rakiya Maitama.
Others are Ndagi Yunusa, Gbadamosi Hakeem, Bala Godwin, Abba Gumsuri, Uthman Jelilat, Blessing Okure, Fatima Abdullahi, Vivian Nnemaka, Olayinka Rahman, Nwafor Precious, and Sule Abdulkarim.
The NTAC scheme, established in 1987, deploys Nigerian professionals to countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific to provide technical assistance while promoting international cooperation and cultural exchange.