CDS Groups

CDS

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (CDS) IN NYSC BAYELSA

Community Development Services (CDS) is one of the four cardinal programmes of the NYSC.  It is through this programme that NYSC is known and remembered
Community Development Services (CDS) is where corp members go outside their primary assignment to look for what they can do to improve the quality of life of their host community. It can be building of structures, renovation of dilapidated structures, empowerment programmes among others to impact their host communities.
We have group CDS and individual CDS. In NYSC Bayelsa State, there are twenty nine (29) CDS groups. They are listed as follows:

S/N	CDS NAME	NAME OF SCHEDULE OFFICER	PHONE NO.
1.	Editorial Board	Mr. Matthew Ngobua	081370386882
2.	Sanitation A	Mr. Matthew Ngobua	081370386882
3.	Sanitation B	Mrs. Egba A.O	08060880673
4.	Sanitation C	Mr. Dokari Zemonovie	07038151792
5.	Sanitation D	Mr. Dokari Zemonovie	07038151792
6.	MDGS Mac	Mr. Adama S. Samuel	08038663155
7.	MDGS Facor	Mr. Poiba Henry N.	08038931054
8.	Health Club	Mrs. Emily Okotori	08035045131
9.	Legal Aid	Mr. Poiba Henry N.	08038931054
10.	NDLEA	Onini Inikie S.	07066787992
11.	EFCC	Ogieva Argon Osahon	07036481818
12.	Red Cross	Mrs. Emily Okotori	08035045131
13.	Mass Adult Literacy A	Mrs. Muadlinepac Buka Ekubo	07030800278
14.	Mass Adult Literacy B	Mrs. Muadlinepac Buka Ekubo	07030800278
15.	Mass Adult Literacy C&D	Simeon Ezekizibe	08065176595
16.	Charity Club	Mrs. Fortune Jumbo	08033399832
17.	PET	Mr. Daniel Odok	07039522490
18.	WAP	Mrs. Jimmy E.B	08036676929
19.	FRSC	Mrs. Fortune Jumbo	08033399832
20.	Public Enlightenment	Mr. Matthew Ngobua	081370386882
21.	Youth Empowerment	Miss Charity Nwagwe	08037437768
22.	Gender	Mrs. Chibuzor Nwagbo	08036189135
23.	Musical Band	Mr. Matthew Ngobua	081370386882
24.	Volley Ball	Miss Akpah Ebiere	08033427073
25.	Dance and Drama	Mr. Akonte Samuel	08067954604
26.	NEMA	Mr. Udeagha C. Emeka	08066174582
27.	Football	Mr. Momodu Harrison	08037252436
28.	ICPC
29.	Breast Without Spot

How to join any CDS group
Corp members are allocated to one of these CDS group by the schedule officer for CDS in the state secretariat. For corp members posted into other zones and areas other than Yenagoa, CDS allocation is done by the zonal inspector (ZI) or local government inspector (LGI) as the case may be.
A corp member cannot join two CDS groups, but a corp member can be in a CDS group and still carry out individual CDS.

CDS Group present on camp
There are some CDS groups present on camp and corp members who join already have a CDS group are not allocated to any other CDS group after orientation camp. Such CDS are:

• Editorial Board CDS – known as Orientation Broadcasting Service(OBS) on camp
• NYSC Band,
• PET,
• MDG’S,
• Red Cross etc.

Professional CDS group
Professional CDS groups are CDS groups whereby the members are professionals in their fields or are trained to be professionals. The training is done right on the orientation camp. Example of these CDS groups is Peer Education Trainer (PET), MDG’S, Red Cross.
So I would advise any corp member who is interested in any of these camp CDS groups should do so right at the orientation camp.

Individual CDS
Individual CDS projects are carried out by corp members who feel the need to make an impact right where they are serving. It is worthy to note here that notable individual CDS projects bags several awards and the best are chosen for state awards out of which two best are further selected and nominated for presidential awards.
The benefits of the presidential award are as listed as follows:
v Automatic employment
v Scholarship to study further anywhere in the world
v Presidential Handshake
The presidential award is given to the lucky winner out of the thirty six states and FCT (Federal Capital Territory) nominees.
The state award is a stepping stone to this presidential
Criteria for state award:
v Source of funding for the project must be external only- corp members are not expected to use their meager allowance for individual projects. Anybody who does this should expect his/her project diaqualified.
v Relevance of the project to the host community i.e. the project carried out must actually meet a need of the host community.


Procedure for carrying out individual CDS 

• Ø Identify a need in the host community
• Ø Write a letter to the host community intimating them about the project.
• Ø Obtain an approval from the host community
• Ø Write a letter in form of proposal to NYSC stating

-         The project to be executed
-         Cost implication
-         Source of funding
-         A letter from the community development chairman showing approval of the outlined projects.
Summary

Individual CDS is very important. It is a way of engraving corp members name in gold in their respective host communities. CDS starts right after orientation camp. It does not have to be a large projects, small and inexpensive projects can be carried out.
The key aim is to make impact. So corp members out there, MAKE IMPACT.