NYSC accusations denied by Diezani Alison-Madueke

ABUJA, Nigeria (eNewsPR- Jun 28, 2011) - Nigeria’s first female Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke (wrongly spelled Diezani Allison-Madueke) has denied all accusations that she ‘skipped’ the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme after she graduated from university, stating that she was granted exemption by the Nigerian Authorities.

In 1987, Alison-Madueke completed the course work for a degree in Architecture from Howard University, Washington D.C., U.S. at the age of 27. However, her Degree Certificate was released in 1992.

Once she returned to Nigerian soil, she had exceeded the official age limit for NYSC, as according to Nigerian law, new graduates under the age of 30 are required sign up for a year of compulsory national service. As a result, the Nigerian Authorities granted Diezani Alison-Madueke exemption from NYSC, which she still owns a physical copy of the document.

Furthermore to strengthen her argument, Alison-Madueke passed all background checks twice by the Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) before being appointed as Minister of Transportation in July 2007 and Minister of Petroleum Resources in April 2010 – if she would have committed any offence against federal law or illegal activity, Nigerian authorities would have stopped all proceedings and action would have been taken.

Additional information about Diezani Alison-Madueke:

Diezani Alison-Madueke was born on 6th December, 1960, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to the family of His Royal Majesty, late Frederick Abiye and Chief Mrs Beatrice Agama from Yenaka, Yenagoa Local Government Area, of Bayelsa State.

Mrs Alison-Madueke completed her early education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom before proceeding to study Architecture in the United States. She completed her 5-year professional Architectural degree at Howard University, Washington D. C.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke is married with children to Rear Admiral Alison-Madueke (rtd), a former Governor of old Anambra and Imo States and a former Chief of Naval Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Malachy Agbo

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eNewsPR Nigeria

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