• Serving members, others insist NYSC goals not eroded by insecurity, other challenges
By Olakunle Olafioye
The raging controversy over the relevance of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme is one that many who started the programme in the early years of its establishment never believed could be an issue one day.
Birthed in 1973 with the lofty objectives of developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promoting national unity and integration in the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war, among other goals, graduates across the country long after the one year mandatory programme. Many had then referenced the scheme as one of the motivations behind their decision to further their education beyond secondary school level.
Dr Munir Kehinde was an enrollee of the scheme in 1996. Recalling how his desire to participate in the scheme fuelled his passion for university education, Munir said that he studied hard to secure university admission and equally studied tirelessly throughout his university days in order to make his dream of wearing the green khaki uniform come to pass.
“My first close contact with corp members was when I was in secondary school. Two corps members were posted to my school and I was so fascinated by their mode of dressing. Besides, I observed that they were treated with respect and admiration by the people in my locality. A couple of them resided in my community. So, those things I saw about them thrilled me so much that I vowed that I must also participate in the scheme,” he said.
His opportunity to take part in the scheme finally came in 1996 when he was posted to Niger State. “Niger State was a dream destination for me then because I had heard a lot about the state from one of my uncles who once lived in the state and so I wanted to see things for myself. From the moment I landed in the state and throughout my entire service year, I had no fear or regret of any sort. Life in Niger State then was peaceful and the local people there were hospitable that neither my parents nor I had any cause to worry about,” he said.
Dr Munir also recalled that the majority of his friends and colleagues who were posted to other parts of the country also shared similar exciting experiences.
“In fact, a couple of my friends decided to stay back in the states where they served with some of them ending up getting married to corps members and locals of different ethnic backgrounds,” he recalled.
Like most people who underwent the scheme in the past, Dr Munir said that he is saddened by the occasional calls from some quarters for the scheme to be proscribed on the grounds that the scheme has outlived its usefulness.
The call for the disbandment of the scheme has assumed a more vociferous dimension in recent years as corps members are increasingly becoming soft targets for criminal elements in some parts of the country.
On August 17, last year, eight female corps members travelling to Sokoto State from Akwa Ibom State were abducted by kidnappers in Zamfara State. And so far, only four of them have regained their freedom from their abductors with the remaining four still languishing in their captors’ den.
Also on November 1, last year, another group of passengers travelling were kidnapped in Kogi State and kept in the bush for nine days. Among them were three prospective corps members.They were said to have been freed after their families reportedly paid ransoms ranging from N2 million to N5 million for each of them.
In 2011, eight serving members of the NYSC were killed in Baku, Bauchi State during the election violence that erupted in the state.
These sad developments have continued to accentuate the call for the proscription of the scheme even as parents scamper to influence the posting of their children to states considered relatively safe.
Findings by Sunday Sun showed that people pay between N50, 000 to N500, 000 to influence their NYSC postings depending on who they know and their bargaining power.
A female corps member who craved anonymity said that she paid N70, 000 twice to influence her posting to a state in the Southwest.
“The first time I was to be mobilized I paid N70,000 to someone who claimed he could help me to secure a posting to the Southwest. We were two that paid him. But when the postings were released the second lady was posted to Oyo State while I was posted to Benue. But when I got to Benue I met a man who promised to help me get redeployed to the Southwest. Initially I was sceptical, but a fellow corps member who introduced him to me assured me that he was not a scammer. I eventually paid another N70, 000 and I got redeployed,” she disclosed.
She blamed her decision to seek redeployment on the security challenge in the country, adding that she knew some corps members who paid far more than she offered to get redeployed.
“My older siblings who served in the past had told me terrible stories that really got me scared about observing my service year in certain parts of the country.
“A lot of people are really scared to serve in some states in the country and they are ready to influence their posting. In fact, I know someone who paid close to N300, 000 to influence her posting,” she said.
When Sunday Sun sought the views of some parents on whether they would influence the posting of their children, a good number of them answered in the affirmative, citing insecurity as the major reason for their position.
One of them is Mrs Gbolahan Ganiyat, who said that the level of insecurity in the land has reached a frightening stage.
Her words: “I cannot blame those who try to influence their children’s posting away from some states in the country because of insecurity. Rather, I will blame the government for allowing the security situation in the country to degenerate to the level it is now. When we underwent the scheme there was no fear of any sort at that time. Apart from some children of the rich whose parents leveraged on their connections to influence their postings to places of primary assignment they considered lucrative or that had the prospects for employment opportunities, people would hardly see reason they should pay bribes to influence their NYSC postings in those days. But here we are today contending with insecurity. Everybody has to consider safety first.”
Security challenge remains the major reason most people, especially those from the privileged class cite as the motive for influencing the posting of their children and wards.
Sadly, prospective corps members who cannot afford to influence their NYSC postings away from ‘danger zones’ are left to contend with this challenge.
This development has again heightened the call for the scrapping of the scheme as many believe its core objective of fostering national unity and integration is being eroded by insecurity.
Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organization, Ibuchukwu Ezike, however, disagreed with the call for the proscription of the NYSC scheme, arguing that insecurity is a national challenge.
Hear him: “Is there any institution or country of the country that does not have its own challenges? Do we say because of those challenges the institutions or the country should cease to exist? No, I do not think so. The people who are trying to influence their children or wards postings from certain parts of the country because of security challenges are not being sincere.
“There is no part of the country which does not have its own peculiar security issues. There are crises in the Southwest; people are being abducted, churches are being attacked. In the Southeast, people are equally being kidnapped. So the issue of insecurity is a national crisis, we should not try to limit it to the North.
“The best way to solve it is not to ban NYSC or to confine people to serve in their local areas where they feel they are safe. The solution is for the government to show more political will in curtailing insecurity.”
A social crusader, Abiodun Subair, said that those calling for the proscription of NYSC do not mean well for the country.
According to him, “NYSC remains one of the major unifying schemes in Nigeria. But for the NYSC, the majority of Nigerians would not have had the opportunity of establishing enduring relationships with their country men and women from other parts of this nation.
“I, for an example, was born and raised in Abeokuta. I did all my schooling, right from primary school to tertiary level in Ogun State. My first time meeting with people from other parts of the country in large numbers was during my national service year.
“Today, I can boast of having friends in at least five non-Yoruba states in Nigeria. These are people I met during my national service year. Two years ago, one of them came to Abeokuta from Akwa Ibom and stayed with me for the entire three days he spent.
“NYSC made that possible. Tomorrow, if I have to travel to Akwa Ibom, I am sure he will equally be motivated to render one assistance or the other to me if it is within his power.”
Some serving corps members who reacted to the issue expressed the view that the benefits, which the NYSC scheme offers outweigh its challenges. One of them, who identified himself as Olajide said that the scheme has been able to stimulate his interest in acquiring a vocational skill. “Notwithstanding the challenges confronting the scheme, there are a lot of advantages in the scheme. For instance, during our three-week orientation programme we were exposed to a number of training programmes which has stimulated my interest in them and I have promised to acquire the skill as soon as the service year is over,” he said.