My attention was drawn to a caption in the news which says ' President Muhammandu Buhari still believes in the NYSC. In my opinion he has not seen the under belly of this thing he believes in. i want to give my opinion and propose a way forward from this issue at hand. but firstly let me intimate you on what NYSC means and stands for.
NYSC
which is the acronym for the NIGERIAN YOUTH SERVICE CORPS. This is
a service year embarked by graduates of universities and polytechnics. The ‘corpers’
or ‘OTONDO’ as they are called are posted to various parts of the country to
carry out their primary assignments as service corp members. The NYSC scheme was created in a bid to reconstruct,
reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil war. The unfortunate
antecedents in our national history gave impetus to the establishment of the
National Youth Service Corps by decree No.24 of 22nd May 1973 which stated that
the NYSC is being established "with a view to the proper encouragement and
development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of
national unity".
As a developing country. Nigeria is further plagued by the problems attendant
upon a condition of under development, namely; poverty. mass illiteracy, acute
shortage of high skilled manpower (coupled with most uneven distribution of the
skilled people that are available), woefully inadequate socioeconomic
infrastructural facilities, housing. Water and sewage facilities, road,
healthcare services, and effective communication system. . Faced with these
almost intractable problems, which were further compounded by the burden of
reconstruction after the civil war, the government and people of Nigeria set
for the country, fresh goals, and objectives aimed at establishing Nigeria as:
- A united, strong and selfreliant nation
- a great and dynamic economy
- a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens
- The government and people of Nigeria are not aware that sound and patriotic leadership is a precondition for the rapid social and economic development of the country. As a nation, Nigeria has been less fortunate in the kind of leadership that emerge to govern the affairs of the country in the period immediately after independence, a leadership whose achievements notwithstanding, was none the less ill-prepared. and generally not properly motivated to tackle the problems of socioeconomic under development, in the interest of the country as a whole.
- There is no gain saying the fact that the future of any country depends on the youths. The youths of Nigeria acknowledge this fact, and have consistently laid claim to the nation's leadership.
- While one may give credence to the saying that leaders are born, not made, one must also concede to the fact that leadership in a modem society requires a certain degree of preparation and orientation before the assumption of that role.
- The universities and other institutions of higher learning are normally expected to be training ground for future leaders, except that, as we are all aware, these institutions are first and foremost committed to the advancement of learning and knowledge, training of people for good citizenship. Little wonder that the products of these institutions have been accused of being too elitist in their outlook, of not identifying with the plight of common man, and of inability to appreciate predicament of the vast majority of our people who live in the rural areas.
- It was the need to look beyond the immediate present and to think of the future leadership of the country that necessitated the mobilisation of certain categories of our youths through the National Youth Service Corps Scheme. This was done with a view to giving them the proper guidance and orientation relevant to the needs of the country. The National Youth Setvice Corps Decree No. 24 which has now been repealed and replaced by Decree 51 of 16th June 1993, was then formally promulgated.
- The purpose of the scheme is primarily to inculcate in Nigerian Youths the spirit of selfless service to the community, and to emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background. The history of our country since independence has clearly indicated the need for unity amongst all our people, and demonstrated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity can exist in isolation.
(from
http://www.nysc.gov.ng/about/about.php)
The of pay these corps members is N20,000 and
this expected to last them a month. The senate
called the commandant of the NYSC to come and defend the creation and
maintenance of this practice. The then commandant hurled insults and condemnation
on the people who called for the scraping of commission.
Now
to the matter at hand. It is said that N2million naira is expended on every
corps member during his/her service year. To may best knowledge no corps member
has ever had a profound impact in his or her live ,academically ,morally ,intellectually,
or any other wise for that matter. The rumors of corps members’ corruption in localities
where they are posted has made rounds,
deaths of innocent girls, women, daughters and mothers/ young men, fathers who
were killed due to a wrong turn or they being ignorant of the laws of the areas
they were sent to. An example was the killing corps members during the last
concluded general elections, the drowning of corp members in Bayelsa
state,killing of Corp members in ethno-religious crisis in Plateau, Kaduna, Benue,
Adamawa, Bauch ,Niger, kano, Edo, just to mention a few and those that have
been killed by the terror attacks of
Boko Haram,both with guns and Bombs.
COMMON SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
If
two million naira is given to a graduate after school or has to under go a
compulsory industrial training in the field of his/her study and trained in entrepreneurial
and leadership skills to equip them with the necessary skills to enable them be
independent. Would that not make sense that wasting one year of the educated
calls of our nation and pouring them back into the society with nothing ? The
discharge certificate is not even acknowledged as an academic qualification of
any sort, therefore possessing it is mostly unimportant. It has no bases of
Professionalism and is only regarded in Nigeria and not a qualification.
But
this will not go down well with the officials who have made this a means of looting
from the Federal government of Nigeria. They have cornered contracts and blown
figures out of proportion and sighted the importance of the creation of the
corps as a key to national integration. This aim is defeated if the corps
members return to their various destinations after their service year. Businesses
,companies, federal ministries in states, higher institutions, religion, difference in resources , interdependence and
federal character can and have achieved
this aim better than NYSC .
The
non adherence to the role of law and due process is what has brought Nigeria to
where it is if graduates are not given proper orientation from their various
school/institutions how will they function in the society? This issue must be
addressed and a way to advance must be sought.
Finally,
it is my earnest zeal to see Nigeria grow and to have competent and responsible
people in the right offices and the law making sure they are held responsible
for their failures and poor performance. If we build the youth of this nation
we have guaranteed the future, because they are the future of tomorrow. A probe
should be carried out on the Nigerian Youth Service corps NYSC and a view to
improving it or scraping it as a whole. Thank you
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