For his admirers, there are many ways to describe Hilary Nasamu. But at the core of it all, Nasamu is a man of integrity, committed, dedicated, supportive and straightforward.
The man in the picture left the University of Benin (UNIBEN) as an assistant lecturer many years back to join the service of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and since then, Nasamu’s impact in the public service has been immeasurable.
Mr Nasamu has made numerous contributions to the Public Service in general and NYSC in particular. The Scheme has existed for close to 49 years and has remained an emblem of national unity—one of the objectives behind its birthing, as so many inter-tribal friendships and marriages have been contracted, while a good number of present and outgone corps members otherwise referred to as “Corpers” have continued to settle down after service in their respective communities and states of deployment, thus, promoting national unity and integration.
Unarguably, successive batches of corps members have continued to leave indelible imprints in the spheres of education, health, agriculture, and national assignments such as the conduct of general elections, census, immunisation among others.
The success of NYSC would not be complete without mentioning the name of people like Hilary Nasamu. His undaunted determination to continue to promote the nationalistic and patriotic ideals of the Scheme can never be denied.
Public service is all about upholding the integrity of government to the citizenry through service. How many public servants today have integrity?
Many Nigerians today are working where they are because of the pay and their numerous family needs, not because they have passion for the job. But talking about “Mr Nasamu”, he is a round peg in a round hole.
I met Mr Nasamu in 2013 in Enugu as a corps member deployed for NYSC. He was state coordinator back then. His first address to us was arresting and his diction was impeccable. This drew him more to me because he advised us and told us to focus, and also never neglect what has brought us.
While at the NYSC camp, I was appointed the head of orientation broadcasting service (OBS) and I pioneered true quality broadcasting- informative, educative and entertaining programmes at the Enugu NYSC orientation camp. One of which was a current affairs programme that had Mr Nasamu as a guest.
Getting him to be our guest was a big herculean task due to his busy schedule. We had to be targeting his car to convince him to attend to us. Our insistence and consistent visits to his lodge with my colleague, Mary Chinda (who now works with Arise TV) made him oblige us.
That was the beginning of his love and affection for me. He took me as his child and had always got in contact with me to encourage me.
I heard the news that he had been transferred to Abuja to work in the Director General’s office. After many years of his dedication, he was appointed as the Director of Special duties in NYSC. Later, he was deployed to Skill Acquisition and entrepreneurship (SAED) where he was until retirement.
During my last visit to him, he counselled and reminded me of the essence of living and success, as well as principles i should never toy with.
On this landmark retirement, I wish Mr Hilary Nasamu many more rewarding years as he sits back to enjoy the fruits of his labour.
Written by Tosin Adesile,anipr,arpa