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Rogers Edor Ochela
Since the Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC) Bill was introduced on the floor of the National Assembly, went through all legislative processes, passed, adopted and transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, it has been dogged by controversies engineered essentially by those who, either out of sheer ignorance or deliberate subterfuge, have refused to read the contents of the Bill for better appreciation and understanding.
As a professional, who has been keeping track of, or better still, monitoring all the criticisms of the NPC Bill, epitomised in grandiloquent publications, with majority of them filled with hate, bile and outright falsehood, we have decided to embark on the arduous assignment of unveiling some of the essential features of the Bill in this article for the benefit of Nigerians who are not privileged or opportune to see the contents of this wonderful document packaged by its promoters to give the nation’s youths a sense of belonging.
The Bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Hon. Umar Farouk and in the Senate by Senator Ali Ndume, went through all necessary legislative processes, including Public Hearing where over 574 Memoranda and Oral Presentations were made during the Public Hearing. Virtually all the memoranda and presentations made by religious organisations, traditional rulers, Federal Government ministries, and agencies, state governments, state Houses of Assembly, civil society organisations, NGOs, youth and student bodies participated in the public hearing and supported the Bill. Out of this staggering number of participants, only four agencies namely, Federal Ministry of Interior, the Police, Civil Defence Corps and Office of the National Security Adviser were opposed to the Bill.
It must be understood that the Bill is to give statutory backing to the Peace Corps of Nigeria, whose core mandate is: To develop, empower and provide gainful employment for the youths, to facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services, nation building, neighbourhood watch and for other related matters. Due to space and time constraints, we shall briefly outline other notable functions of the Corps. They include: Training of youths to advance the course of nation-building and conflict transformation through peace education, mediation and conflict resolution among warring groups or communities; building the capacity of the youths in the areas of critical thinking, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and skills acquisition; re-directing the creative potentials of the youths towards patriotic services and nation-building through citizenship and leadership training; establishing Peace Corps Clubs and combating all forms of social decadence or vices, including examination malpractices in educational institutions in order to create a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for learning; engaging members in crowd control during public functions; serving as orderlies to members of the executive, parliament. Judiciary and traditional rulers that are not covered by existing security agencies and carrying out any other function(s) as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly or by any bye-law etc
The Bill provides that the Corps shall establish and maintain a fund into which shall be paid: (a) All subventions and budgetary allocations from the Federal Government; (b) All sums accruing to the Corps from donations made by local or international donor agencies; (c) Statutory allocations from the Federal Government; (d) Gifts from the tiers of government, ministries or agencies and private corporations; (e) Loans, grants and aid; and (f) Bequests.
While the Bill states that the Corps may accept gifts, the terms and conditions attached to such gifts must not be inconsistent with its functions and objectives.
As conceptualized, the NPC will serve as a vehicle for mass mobilisation and engagement of the youths into regimental Community Development Services, Domesticated Para-Millitary Volunteerism for ad-hoc interventions like National Clean-up Exercise, Population Census, Voters Registration and Elections, Maintenance of Peace and Order in Schools and Public Places and General Neighbourhood Services, which is an existing gap in our National Development efforts.
It has been discovered that the Corps is structured to be the most cost-effective agency of government in Nigeria that shall provide maximum services at the most minimal cost to the national economy, with great potentials of attracting international funding and support like its counterparts around the globe. So, the NPC can be established without full salary, but sustainable subvention till when the nation’s economy improves. Similarly, with proper legislative backing, the Corps can on its own source for financial support from organised private sector (OPS) and development partners, just like it has been doing over the years.
It is on this note that the withholding of assent on the grounds of lack of fund and the amorphous excuse of security concerns remains untenable and unacceptable to majority of Nigerians, hence the cacophonous calls for the president to reverse his decision because they feel that it is like throwing away the baby with the bath water.
Judging from the foregoing, it should be glaring to all doubting Thomases that if the Corps is given the necessary statutory backing, apart from empowering and providing gainful employment for the youths, it will also contribute its own quota towards addressing the nation’s security challenges through intelligence-gathering and dissemination of same to conventional Security Agencies.
•Ochela is the media consultant to Peace Corps of Nigeria.
