This is a detailed guide on the ten best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member.
NYSC is incorporated with different programs and Community Development Service is one of the programs.
Community Development Service (CDS) is one of the most important and mandatory programs corps members are expected to participate in.
However, this program enables corps members to positively influence their host community, bringing about change and development in the lives of the people, and the community as well.
There are numerous Community Development Service groups, and it is advisable to join the best NYSC CDS group for optimum functionality.
This article on the best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member will help you make the right choice when you read it to the end.
Table of Contents
About Community Development Service (CDS)
Community Development Service (CDS) is one of the four crucial Programs of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The program is compulsory for all corps members and it is intended to help corps members discover their skills, and creativity and contribute positively to the development and betterment of their host communities throughout their service year.
However, corps members in various CDS groups are not expected to use their money to develop their host communities, their main responsibility is to identify the pressing needs of the community, come up with a reliable plan on how to execute them, and sought funds from people or organization.
Moreover, this program has given the youth a sense of responsibility towards one another and geared their minds toward the community and nation-building.
For the CDS meetings, corps members are mandated to converge once every week for the CDS activities and they are not expected to carry out any duties in their primary place of assignment on that designated day.
Moreover, the Community Development Service is divided into Group Community Development Service and Personal/Individual Community Development services.
Group Community Service Development is the type where corps members come together to think and decide on what to do collectively for the betterment of their host community.
It is mandated for every corps member in a particular community to be fully involved in the program as failure to do so will result in discipline.
Meanwhile, Personal Community Service Development is when a corps member on his/her own recognizes the need of people in the community and come up with a tangible idea to solve the problem.
This type of CDS is not mandatory, it is the choice of a corps member to carry out the project and they are always rewarded if it is life-changing enough.
Importance Of Community Service Development
The concept of Community Service Development was to be of great importance to both the corps members involved and the host communities, it was never to be one-sided. However, below are the importance of Community Service Development.
1. It is the basis for economic development.
2. It authorizes people to exercise their rights and duties.
3. It creates access to resources for many individuals.
4. It helps boost the power of local organizations.
5. It offers people the chance to contribute to a better society.
6. It impacts and enhances thoroughly the rural community life.
7. It reveals to corps members the diverse traditions and customs of the host communities.
8. It provides a platform for corps members to think, come up with innovative ideas, and bring them to existence.
9. It helps harness the numerous talents and skills of corps members to bring about positive change in our rural communities.
10. It helps grow the spirit of entrepreneurship in the corps members.
11. It enables the Nigerian youth to exercise leadership, dignity, perseverance, selflessness, and love for one another despite ethnic differences.
Best NYSC CDS Groups To Join As A Corps Member
There are numerous Community Development Service Groups but not all of them may be found in the community you are posted to.
Moreover, deciding on the CDS group to belong to might not be your responsibility but that of the local government inspector, but you can reject it if you are not comfortable.
However, before you join any CDS group, you must consider the functions and goals of the CDS group; its activities and how they will contribute to your personal development; your passion, and how it rhymes with the group’s activities.
However, below are the best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member.
1. Drug-Free And Quality Control Group(NDLEA, NAFDAC)
This is one of the best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member, and it is also known as the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency CDS group.
The group enlightens members of the host communities on the danger of drug abuse and self-medication; hard drugs, fake drugs, and expired drugs consumption.
The group encourages people to seek proper health care when they are sick and use only the prescribed drugs by a doctor.
This group also raises a campaign for the eradication of fake and contaminated food and drugs and establishes drug clubs in schools to further enlighten the children on the danger of drug abuse.
The corps members in this group not only sensitize the people in their host community but are also enlightened as well.
2. Medical And Health Services Group
This CDS group is basically for those that studied health-related course to provide and promotes health-related services to members of their host communities.
The group’s activities involved the promotion and provision of medical services, organization of health outreach, administration of First Aid, the building of a community-based clinic, sensitization of people on the need to receive proper health care, etc.
However, this group is one of the best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member, you will not only teach others but expand your knowledge of medical and health services.
3. Anti Corruption Group(EFCC And ICPC)
This CDS group exposes to the public the danger of crime and corruption and the need to stop dishonest and adverse behavior.
Corps members in this group go about sensitizing members of the community and school children about the danger of involving in a crime of any sort.
They establish Anti Corruption Corps in schools and encourage members to talk to their peers and any of their relatives involved in dubious activities.
Members of this CDS group do not just create awareness but also learn greatly, and this makes it one of the best NYSC CDS groups any corps member can join.
4. Environmental Protection And Sanitation Group
Corps members in this group dedicate themselves to cleaning the community, they carry out sanitation in different places in the community to provide a clean and healthy environment suitable for habitation.
Members of this CDS group also educate members of the community on the need to keep their environment clean and the danger of uncleanliness.
They also put resources in place to control erosion, drainage, and pollution and they also encourage afforestation, sanitation, and landscaping.
5. Charity And Gender Equality Group
This is no doubt one of the best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member. Corps members in this group render help to the less privileged in the community by donating materials and money for their survival.
They also create awareness of the importance of giving both boy and girl children equal opportunities to strive in society.
Members of this group also organize skills acquisition training for members of the community so they can have a tangible means of income to help themselves.
However, they also visit the orphanage homes and prisons, they encourage the inmates and also gift them.
6. Disaster Management Group(NEMA)
This CDS group helps in disaster management, it is one of the best NYSC CDS groups any corps member can join.
Members of this group create awareness of disaster management and also educate members of the community on how to manage disasters through the Corps Emergency vanguard.
They also form an emergency vanguard in schools to help young students know how to manage disasters when they experience them.
7. Road Safety Group
This CDS group sensitizes members on the need to observe traffic rules and drive safely to avoid accidents; they ensure public safety on the roads.
They render first aid treatment to accident victims and control traffic lights, establish road safety clubs in schools and create road safety awareness.
However, this is one of the best NYSC CDS groups to join as it lay emphasis on human life.
8. Education Development Group
This Community Development Service group enhances the standard of education in the host community and creates awareness of the need for people to go to school and get educated.
They encourage members of the community, both children and adults, to get basic education to function properly in society.
They organize Adult classes and extramural classes for children to help boost learning and Career guidance and counseling for students.
This is one of the best NYSC CDS groups as members campaign against illiteracy and organizes inter-school activities to spur children to learn more.
9. Reproductive Health And HIV/AIDS Groups
Corps members in this group enlighten members of the host community about their reproductive health, HIV/AIDS virus control and prevention, and the danger of sexually transmitted diseases.
They sensitize students on the need to abstain from premarital sex and adjust their lifestyle to prevent themselves from contracting HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.
Members of this group also establish HIV/AIDS clubs in schools to enable students to learn more about the virus.
10. Agro-Allied CDS Group
Members of this CDS group educate members of their host communities on how to use raw agricultural materials to produce other finished products.
They support the agro-allied activities in the community by giving advice when necessary and they also encourage safe food production.
They establish cooperative societies for farmers where they can enhance and multiply resources and finances, and they also teach farmers new farming techniques.
However, some of these Community Development Service groups might not be found in the states or the local government you are posted to.
Do not panic, apart from these ten best NYSC CDS groups, there are other good ones which are:
1. Cultural and Tourism group
2. Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) CDS group
3. Service Delivery CDS group
4. Editorial/Publicity CDS group
5. Sports CDS group
6. Corps Legal Aid Group (CLAG)
7. Anti-Corruption CDS groups
That’s all on the 10 best NYSC CDS groups to join as a corps member, I hope it helps you make the right choice.
