It was in the news recently that some members of the National Youth Service Corps alleged being subjected to degrading tasks in the course of their national service in the National Assembly. Report has it that the only thing they do is to serve tea, kolanuts and confectionery during committee sessions and run errands for the lawmakers. They receive volleys of insults and rebuke, they further revealed, for making simple mistakes. It was all a tale of intellectual abuse and verbal bruise. The immediate reaction of the National Assembly’s Director of Information and Publications, Mr. Monima Daminabo, was that of non-challance as he swiftly dismissed the allegations for want of evidence. He believes the civil service is too disciplined and busy for such idle talks. An insider, however, revealed in confidence that corps members have nothing serious to do because the civil service in that realm is already saturated hence the only job they can best be assigned to do are those servile encumbrance.
The revelations from this episode should be of serious concern to every well-meaning Nigerian. It calls for an objective analysis of the condition corps members find themselves in their places of primary assignment. The first wisdom that can be gleamed from this incident is that corps members are many times posted to where their services are not required. So, where the organisation has no choice, the corps members are absorbed to be redundant. The NYSC is highly culpable for this repeated error. Secondly, it shows how corps members are regarded in many government establishments. If the lawmakers could watch as these youths serve kolanuts and sweets, then it speaks volume of the disdain and disrespect the ruling class has for the future of this nation. The implication for the latter is very grievous because it portends disaster for our future. No doubt, some of the corps members attached to the National Assembly would have some form of legal training. They had probably thought their privileged placement will give them exposure and experience in the tedious art of lawmaking. They also probably thought they would be eagerly accepted by the lawmakers since the campaign for youth empowerment was in full steam and this could also facilitate the gradual transfer of roles from the old generation to the new. Well, the National Assembly members had a different opinion of national service: serving tea, kola nut and sweets.
The last obvious thing to any discerning mind is that the NYSC is fast losing its relevance. What national integration or discipline is in serving kola nuts in the National Assembly? What cultural cohesion is in running around as an errand boy for a big man in a State House? How does posting of corps members to banks, oil companies, and private businesses justify the corporate objectives of the NYSC? This arguments favour the clamour for the scrapping of the scheme against the backdrop of the avoidable deaths of some corps members while busy serving Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan has however affirmed his commitment to the sustenance of the NYSC and is stepping up programmes for the security of corps members. The NYSC stays because Mr. President has spoken. What appears the general consensus now is a review to halt this human and intellectual waste. A review to strengthen the scheme and make it more productive.
Speaking on the review, the Minister for Youth Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said corps members would no longer be posted to some organisations because they unduly exploit them to provide cheap labour. The organisations don’t bother to employ people since they can always rely on their steady supply of corps members every year, which has resulted in increased unemployment in the country. Good step in the right direction. But the quick poser is where will the myriads of youths who queue up for the mandatory scheme serve? The civil service is ever saturated, coupled with the bureaucratic chaos of duplication of functions. So it is completely out of the question. I know of corps members who simply do nothing than sit and chat throughout working hours and at the end of each day, return home not adding values to themselves or the state of their service. A corps member I was told, turned an Okada rider in his state of deployment because he had nothing to do in the ministry he was posted to. The common case of rejection of corps members at their places of primary assignment is enough evidence of the inappropriateness of posting corps members to the civil service.
One basic challenge confronting the NYSC since its 38 years of existence is how to effectively mobilise the many graduates of Nigerian higher institutions for the actualisation of its mandate. Thankfully, the Federal Government recently approved a new policy direction for the scheme that will refocus it on four key sectors: rural health, education, infrastructure and agriculture. The place of sincerity in pursuing these outlined development needs cannot be overemphasised. As a corps member serving in the interior of Ebonyi, one of the least developed states in the country, I agree that rural community is where to go. This is where you find schools without teachers because even indigenes don’t want to teach or live in the village. This is where you find hospitals without doctors because many doctors cannot imagine treating poor patients who cannot afford their medical bills. This is where you find people living in abject poverty because even their children have abandoned them for city pleasures. This is where you find young boys and girls with potential yet wasting away in teenage vices because of lack of proper orientation.
But arising from this great need is the grave concern for security. To gloss over this and proceed with rural deployment is to invite the wrath of parents and guardians of prospective corps members. It is heart-warming that Mr. President again recently launched a project that will help in tracking the movements of corps members and make help available when the need arises. We can hope for more of such laudable projects. However, a review of the NYSC to reflect the demand for geo-political zone posting may also allay the fears of many stakeholders. This could foster the envisaged rural postings of corps members for national development without attracting public outcry. Where traditional institutions exist, corps members may be handed over to community rulers and elders who will personally account for their safety.
Nigerian youths also need proper orientation. The NYSC is not forever. One year of selfless service offered in hard condition makes Nigeria a better place for those coming behind. So, the issue of influencing of postings on flimsy grounds should be discouraged and the Brigadier General Okorie-Affa led team has a big work to do in this regard. The NYSC itself needs to be restructured and equipped to answer to the repressed cry for help of those in the forgotten interiors. Places that can only see the glorious light of urbanisation and development when strangers visit and make inputs. The Federal Government needs to set up facilities to stimulate interest in these places and encourage enterprising and visionary youths to troop there with renewed vigour and commitment to national service. National service not induced by the urge to satisfy the criterion for securing appointment in a dream organisation, but genuine love for fatherland, for Nigeria.
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