A bill to scrap the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme recently passed the second reading in the House of Representatives. In the proposed bill, the sponsor, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, representing Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State, cited “incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism and ethnic violence, incessant kidnapping of corps members across the country to justify the call for abolition of the 48 year-old youth scheme.
Other reasons given by Abiante include the non-recruitment of corps members after the service year by public and private agencies, poor remuneration and preferential postings due to insecurity, among other reasons.
NYSC scheme was established on May 22, 1973 by General Yakubu Gowon’s military regime to unify the country after the Nigerian Civil War. Since the inauguration of the scheme, it has done a lot to enable the participants understand other parts of the country and their cultures. It has led to inter-ethnic marriages and helped to cement the bonds among the ethnic groups.
Thus, even if there was no civil war, common sense dictates that, to weld these disparate people into a united nation, a certain semblance of unity of purpose must somehow be forged to encourage peace, and a sense of nationhood.
To scrap the NYSC is beyond reason and would negate all the numerous sacrifices made to unify the country. How scrapping the NYSC would contribute to any sense of security is even more difficult to understand.
The anguish of losing seven NYSC members during the political riots of 2011 may have been traumatic. It was clearly a national disaster, indicating that NYSC members must not be considered vulnerable wherever they may be. The scramble to serve in familiar locations, to bribe officials to secure such postings, should, furthermore, be the priority of the NYSC headquarters.
To stamp out that temptation ought to be the objective of postings. The aim should be to post Bayelsans, for instance, to Sokoto and Lagosians to Borno, to devise a formula to ensure that members come out with “the NYSC spirit’.
For many years, the idea has been floated to enrich the programme by making it a two-year scheme in which the first year is devoted to military training and emergency management, as a recruiting platform for the National Guard, similar to that of the United States trained men and women who could be mobilized at short notice in the case of national emergencies.
Two years will give the corps members the opportunity to consolidate their cultural assimilation in their new places of service. One year is good but two years will consolidate knowledge and experience. Then we can have an opportunity to re-orientate a nationalist corps, which can be trusted to be free of prejudices.
Indeed, rather than seek the scrapping of NYSC, we think it is time to strengthen the programme and make it better. The bill in the National Assembly ought to be reviewed. The corps members should be better paid and given greater responsibilities wherever they serve.
They must be recognized and appreciated for serving the nation. The cultural benefit of inter-ethnic marriages is, perhaps, one reason the nation has kept hanging on together. We think the federal and state governments should rededicate themselves to making the most of the NYSC and ensure the safety and comfort of corps members.
Therefore, we urge the House of Representatives to review forthwith the bill seeking to scrap the National Youth Service Corps.
WRITTEN BY PROF. ANTHONY EZE
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