CEOAFRICA gathered that the Federal Government is set to deploy one thousand, two hundred Nigerian volunteers under the Technical Aid Corp scheme to recipient countries-this year.

TAC is scheme designed to compliment direct financial aid from Nigeria to needy African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through skills exchange towards strengthening international understanding and co-operation under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the newly appointed Director General of the Directorate Dr Pius Osunyikanmi said one thousand two hundred Nigerians will be recruited as volunteers and sent to recipient countries in 2013,

He further said that the increase in the number of volunteers for 2013 is due to increase in the demand for more volunteers by recipient’s countries in the previous year which was usually between four hundred to five hundred volunteers.

According to the D.G, “we have between four hundred, five hundred volunteers that are sent round. Remember this is based on request from recipient countries and so the number of volunteers is determined by the request from recipient countries.

“The average we send is about five hundred to six hundred every year, I do hope in the current year we would be increasing the number to about a thousand, a thousand two hundred because there seems to be a kind of renewed interest and I think from their perception of the change in leadership in Nigeria and the current policy orientation of the country”.

He also explained that the concept of TAC is rooted in the, “outward expression of Nigeria foreign policy. Prior to the establishment of the Nigerian technical corp, Nigeria has always through the frame work of its African brotherliness, being of assistance to brotherly African countries through cash donations”.

He said most request for volunteers are from African countries due to, “a number of development challenges in Africa. From East Africa to Southern Africa to North Africa and Central Africa, of course arising from the developmental challenges of these African nations it follows therefore that one could reason that there will be a lot of huge gap from their man power requirement and they have taken the advantage of the program; human resource in Nigeria to leverage on the technical income.