By Kemi Yesufu
Segun Adekola, chairman, Committee on Youth Development, House of Representatives, speaks on the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme especially with recent deaths among corps members. The lawmaker representing Ekiti South West/Ikere/Ise/Orun , who has been vocal in calling on the Federal Government to assist the poor survive the recession, also spoke on the emergence of Governor Ayo Fayose as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum.
On the last day for the submission of reports on the 2016 budget, from Standing Committees to the Appropriations Committee, you made a passionate appeal for an increase in allocation to ensure that thousands of intending National Youth Service Corps members were mobilized. This was because what was allocated in the budget was insufficient. One year after, would you say the intervention yielded expected outcomes?
Yes it did. But for the intervention of the House, thousands of NYSC members would have been left out. We intervened and all of them were mobilised. Also remember that recently, the president brought a request for virement with N8.9 billion released. If this wasn’t done, the current batch of NYSC members wouldn’t have been moblised.
Not long ago, your committee visited a number of NYSC camps following deaths of corps members. Many believe if these camps were not in a very bad shape, the victims would have had better chance of survival.
I will start from the perspective of NYSC members. I will advise that, it is always good to be open and to speak out about their state of health. Some of them are so excited about serving their fatherland they do not fully disclose their health status. Is it not when you declare that you have an issue that people can be on the lookout to help you or that you will be exempted from physical training? So, I admonished NYSC members to remember that health is wealth, and that, it is only when you are alive that you can serve your country and therefore they must inform the authorities of their medical history, so they can be well managed.
On the state of NYSC camps, those we visited had clinics and we did ask them if they have adequate drugs and basic equipment to treat people and they said, yes. Some camps even had ambulances. I call on state governors to support the Federal Government and these young people by providing ambulances at NYSC camps. Actually, there has to be synergy between federal and state governments to maintain well-run camps. We did meet with some governors who acceded to some of our requests which were fallouts of findings at the camp.
You mean the death of NYSC members was more about their not being forthright about health challenges they had?
That’s what we found out from our tour. We met youth corps members being treated in camp clinic, and we were told when the NYSC doctors needed to refer patients to hospitals, they did just that.
The deaths of corps, the conditions under which they serve and the not-so-good allowances they are paid has made many ask for the scheme to be scrapped. Aren’t such people right?
I condole with those who lost loved ones during their service year. But taking a second look, we need to ask how many NYSC members have died through neglect and compare it with the huge numbers that successfully complete their service year annually. The NYSC scheme is one of the most successful policies in the history of the country. All that the Federal Government set out to achieve through the scheme are noble objectives such as national integration, promotion of unity and peace. The scheme has brought Nigerians together and facilitated many inter-tribal marriages. For some, the NYSC year is the only work experience they use to apply for jobs. Some were fortunate to have been retained after the service year. The NYSC scheme is even more important now when the economy is in dire straits. In this era when banks are downsizing, in this era where manufacturers are leaving Nigeria and we are in a recession, how can anyone be talking about not giving a graduate one-year exposure post graduation? Since 1973, when the scheme came into being, NYSC members have contributed a lot to development of this country. You see them teaching in schools, they are of great use to us during elections and so on.
Returning to the 2016 budget, beyond ensuring adequate budgetary allocation for mobilisation of NYSC members, how would you rate the performance of the Sports and Youth Development Ministry?
I will give a zero score. What do you expect me to assess when despite how much I appealed, nothing was allocated for youth development, nothing for skill acquisition or training? This year, I would have to look into the budget to see if the situation has remained the same.
You see, the Federal Government is not sincere about empowering young people or diversifying the economy. You say you want to diversify the economy and the ministry for Youth Development didn’t budget anything for training youths. Again, in the 2017 budget, how much was allocated to agriculture or even solid minerals? Until we revive our steel industries, starting with the Ajaokuta Steel Company, we will continue struggling with industrialising our country. Can we even say the Federal Government is committed to promoting food security? You see, the common man doesn’t ask government for too much. He only wants the right atmosphere, good conditions for his efforts to yield fruits, so that he can feed his family and send his children to school.
This is why I moved a motion on the floor, asking Federal Government what kind of palliative measures will be put in place to cushion the effects of the recession on the people? Things are really hard for the people, now we hear of people committing suicide.
But the masses you speak about seem not have a problem with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as the party’s candidates won in Edo and Ondo?
Were those elections free and fair? We witnessed the abracadabra that was performed in both states. These are staggered elections where the Federal Government can deploy so much of the resources available to it to get the results it desires. Look at what happened in Ondo State.
How can the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after monitoring the primaries where one candidate emerged and accepting that it was free and fair, now turn around to recognise someone who told you he participated in a primary you cannot say if he held it within Ondo state or in a hotel room in Ibadan? It took a legal battle which was resolved days to the election for INEC to again recognise the right person as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate. How do you want the PDP candidate to win? Now, what we have is technical rigging.
They know the people are really suffering, they hardly make money these days, so they dangle thousands to voters who haven’t eaten for days and what do you expect? Ondo and Edo elections are not about the people liking the APC. You live in Nigeria, tell me, what you or any other person vote for the ruling party for? Is it the naira selling at N500 to a dollar and its multiplier effects on Nigerians, or the depressing situation of many Nigerians going to bed on empty stomach? Do we have to wait until we see dead bodies of those who died of hunger on the streets of Lagos and Abuja before we know things have really gone bad?
Many feel the party is almost dead, with some blaming Fayose and Governor Nyesom Wike for bringing in Sherrif. What is your reaction?
We are alive. We are hale and hearty. It is the Federal Government that is trying to weigh us down. They are using tactics we didn’t use on them when they were in opposition. Remember what happened to (Olisa) Metuh? Now, you can’t say anything against government, because when you do, they come after you. They want to suppress the voice of opposition. We are all witnesses to all these. Fayose will spearhead the repositioning of the party, because PDP remains popular among Nigerians.