Nigeria is set to deploy 10 technical aid volunteers to Sierra Leone under the Nigeria Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) programme.
The volunteers, selected from a large pool of applicants, will spend two years in Sierra Leone, providing professional expertise and supporting development in their host communities.
Speaking during a briefing ahead of their departure, NTAC Director-General, Dr Yusuf Yakub, urged the volunteers to uphold Nigeria’s image and demonstrate professionalism throughout their assignments.
“You are going out as Nigeria,” Yakub said.
“You are going out to serve humanity. That is why we call you volunteers.”
He urged the volunteers to focus on their strengths and ensure their conduct reflected positively on the country.
“I always say you should leave your weakness back at home. Every human being has weaknesses and strengths. Go with your strength. Don’t go out with your weakness,” he said.
Yakub said the volunteers’ responsibilities extended beyond their individual careers, describing the programme as part of Nigeria’s long-running South-South cooperation and soft-power diplomacy.
He said the technical assistance programme had operated for 38 years, sending Nigerian professionals to countries across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
According to him, the programme allows Nigeria to contribute its human resources to other developing countries while strengthening international relations.
Yakub said previous Nigerian volunteers had achieved notable professional success in their host countries.
He cited Nigerian volunteers in The Gambia who had risen to senior university positions, including vice-chancellors and deputy vice-chancellors.
He also recalled the case of a Nigerian female professor who continued working in her host country after completing her two-year assignment after she was offered an independent contract.
Under the deployment arrangement, NTAC will provide the volunteers with allowances and flight tickets, while the host country will cover accommodation, utilities and transportation to work.
The volunteers are also expected to sign a tripartite agreement involving themselves, NTAC and the beneficiary country before departure.
Volunteers pledge to promote Nigeria
The volunteers said they were prepared to use their professional skills to contribute to Sierra Leone’s development while promoting Nigeria’s image.
Professor Moses Zaruwa, a clinical psychologist and biochemical pharmacologist from Nasarawa State University, described the deployment as an opportunity to serve humanity.
“I feel very, very grateful to be given this opportunity to serve mankind,” he said.
Zaruwa said his professional training and experience had prepared him to contribute meaningfully to the programme.
“It’s good that I explore other areas to carry out, to show my skills and what really we have in Nigeria,” he added.
Modukpe Ajala, a clinical instructor, nurse and midwife with the Department of Nursing, National University of Nigeria, said the volunteers were determined to make a positive impact.
“By the time we leave that place, our prints will be all over the land. And we are definitely going to make Nigeria proud,” she said.
Ajala also praised the selection process, describing it as free and fair.
A physiologist from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, I.G. Bako, said the volunteers would use their expertise to improve perceptions of Nigeria abroad.
“Our representation there will erase some of those things because of the expertise we have that will go on display,” he said.
The latest deployment reinforces Nigeria’s longstanding technical assistance programme, which uses the skills of Nigerian professionals to support development initiatives in partner countries while promoting South-South cooperation.
