NYSC: When Salt Looses Its Taste

NYSC: When Salt Looses Its Taste

By Chukwudi OHIRI

“If salt loses its Taste, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” says the holy book. This brings to the fore, the knotty question about the viability or otherwise of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme as it stands today. Has it lost its saltiness? Does it still serve the purpose for which it was introduced by the initiators of the scheme several years ago? A peep into the historical background of the scheme will suffice in our assessment of the journey so far for the NYSC.

In line with the three point agenda of General Yakubu Gowon in the immediate aftermath of the Nigerian Civil war, the idea of a scheme that will see to the reunification and soothing of the wounds of both the ‘vanquished and the victor’, --the NYSC scheme was hatched by the administration. On May 22, 1973, Decree No.24 which established the NYSC scheme was promulgated "with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity". This was further elaborated upon in 1993 to look beyond the immediate present and to think of the future leadership of the country that necessitated the mobilization of certain categories of our youths through the National Youth Service Corps Scheme. This was done with a view to giving them the proper guidance and orientation relevant to the needs of the country. The National Youth Service Corps Decree No. 24 was repealed and replaced by Decree 51 of 16th June 1993.

Furthermore and most importantly, the purpose of the scheme is primarily to inculcate in Nigerian Youths, the spirit of selfless service to the community, and to emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background. The history of our country since independence has clearly indicated the need for unity amongst all our people, and demonstrated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity can exist in isolation.

All these ideals were succinctly spelt out in Decree 51, of 1993 as follows: to inculcate discipline in Nigerian youths by instilling in them a tradition of industry at work, and of patriotic and loyal service to Nigeria in any situation they may find themselves;
to raise the moral tone of the Nigerian youths by giving them the opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievement, social and cultural improvement;
to develop in the Nigerian youths the attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable training. which will make them more amenable to mobilization in the national interest;
to enable Nigerian youths acquire the spirit of self reliance by encouraging them to develop skills for self employment;
to contribute to the accelerated growth of the national economy;
to develop common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration;
to remove prejudices, eliminate ignorance and confirm at first hand the many similarities among Nigerians of all ethnic groups; and
to develop a sense of corporate existence and common destiny of the people of Nigeria.

To achieve the objectives above, the Decree recommended as follows: the equitable distribution of members of the service corps and the effective utilisation of their skills in area of national needs;
that as far as possible, youths are assigned to jobs in States other than their States of origin;
that such group of youths assigned to work together is as representative of Nigeria as far as possible; that the Nigerian youths are exposed to the modes of living of the people in different parts of Nigeria;
that the Nigerian youths are encouraged to eschew religious intolerance by accommodating religious differences;
that members of the service corps are encouraged to seek at the end of their one year national service, career employment all over Nigeria, thus promoting the free movement of labour;
and finally, that employers are induced partly through their experience with members of the service corps to employ more readily and on a permanent basis, qualified Nigerians, irrespective of their States of origin.

Can we look back today and say that these initial lofty dreams by the progenitors of this scheme are still in place? The answer will definitely be in the negative, sustaining the view that the salt (NYSC scheme), may have lost its saltiness or relevance owing to several factors that is not limited to the present security situation alone.

Looking back in the years gone by, the NYSC programme connoted a full year of selfless service and suffering though, due to the policy of dragging youths from their home zone to completely new terrains and cultures with only stipends for sustenance, yet most graduating students looked forward to the programme with glee and pride, not necessarily because it was mandatory and a primary prerequisite for securing any government appointment as a graduate, but because the experience was most rewarding to the individual and the country at large. It never mattered so much where one was posted and corps members were treated with dignity by the host communities and organizations. All these are now in the past. Graduating students now lobby and pay huge chunk of money in order to be posted to their choice areas leading to the overcrowding of certain areas to the detriment of the others. This has also become business for NYSC officials who would feel great loss if the scheme is eventually proscribed.

The reality on ground now is that the seemingly intractable insecurity situation in the country, especially in many parts of northern Nigeria, the uncertainty of even securing a job outside one’s zone after the service year and many other anomalies associated with the NYSC scheme are now threatening the foundations of this laudable scheme. Corps members are now endangered species, prone to greater dangers like violent deaths through bomb blasts, mob attacks or gunmen’s onslaught and gang rape (for the female ones).

During the April 2011 post election violence for example, about 10 corpers were reportedly killed. Many others were killed in one form of violent attack or the other especially across the northern region. Before the election violence, several other corps members employed as ad hoc staff by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met their untimely death in places like Suleja, Niger State, as well as in Jos, Plateau State in the wake ethno-religious crisis in those areas. This spate of insecurity has been a source of worry for every sector of the polity including the House of Representatives who recently directed the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to cancel posting of corps members to volatile states in the North (including Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi and Plateau States) which are currently facing security challenges. At first, it was a tall order for the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier Genenral Nnamdi Okore-Affa who insistence that “by our (NYSC) mandate, we must post corps members to all states. However, because some areas have been described as volatile, what we will do is to reduce the number of corps members sent to such states. They will be posted to areas where their security will be guaranteed”. Feelers received by this magazine suggested that the order was later carried out by the DG and it is not yet clear how long this directive will continue to be in force. Confirming this status quo, the NYSC boss in a later statement on the redeployment of corp members posted to the North directed that “Yobe State prospective corps members will now hold their orientation course at the Nasarawa State NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Keffi, Keffi LGA, and not as stated in their call-up letters. Borno State prospective corps members will undertake their orientation programme at the Benue State NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp at Wanume, Tarka LGA, and not as stated in their call-up letters”. If this arrangement persists and the insecurity situation remains unabated, how can the expected national integration as well as the anticipated synergy between and among the youths from the diverse cultures of the country be achieved? Will it not amount to naught continuing on the NYSC scheme where graduates will now have to serve in their home States, acquiring nothing new about the country they are out to salvage?  

Writing on one of the national dailies recently, Kunle Rotimi in an opinion page opined that “the gory situation has called for an urgent review in the posting of these promising youths. Henceforth, NYSC should ensure that every corps member is mobilized and posted to their states of origin. One can serve his or her fatherland anywhere. It does not have to be at hostile communities, cannibal abattoirs as they are now, where bodies of ill-fated young men, purportedly serving the nation would have to be parceled back to their toiling parents who have hungered to send them to school”. Many parents have vowed to withdraw their wards from serving at the NYSC if posted to certain parts of the country thereby defeating the sole aim of establishing the NYSC programme. The teething question that has been repeatedly asked at this point is: “should the baby be thrown away with the bathwater”? Investigation by this magazine revealed that most erstwhile corps members who went through this scheme benefited beyond their expectations from it, especially those who served outside their region. Their perception and understanding of people from other tribes usually changed for the better which was what the NYSC scheme was set up for.

Mr. Nath Amadi who served in Sokoto State in 2007 narrated his experience then to Nigerian OrientNews. “The people were nice to me”, he started. “In the morning, a good number of families would be the first to wake me up with their traditional meals which I did not want to taste at first. But when I tasted the ‘tuwo shinkafi’, I never stopped eating it until I left the north. Contrary to the present general notion that Hausas are very hostile people as is believed today, they supplied me with all kinds of farm produce and bush meat and showed me great reverence as though I was a deity. ‘Koffer, koffer,’ they usually shouted when they needed attention. It was real fun and I hope the current security situation would not lead to the eventual collapse of this laudable structure,” he concluded. It is very worrisome to observe that the above story which corps members in the past replicated can no longer be the same. Efforts of the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to make the NYSC members happy through increased wages/allowance have been rubbished by both insecurity problem and non-complementing of the decent wage payment by some state governments.

At the Orientation camp of the latest Batch of the 2012 corps members, rather than emphasize the cardinal aim of the scheme which is National unity and integration among members, the Various State coordinators of the NYSC and State Governors  who addressed the participants harped more on the security concern of the nation proffering the learning of martial arts as a solution.

 Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of the ‘Batch-B of the 2012 corps members, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State emphasized on the primary objectives of the scheme, which is to promote unity. But his Ogun State counterpart, Senator Ibikunle Amnosun, focused more on the security concerns in the country calling for intensified martial arts training for corps members so that they can defend themselves in case of insurgency. The State Coordinator of NYSC, Mrs. Theresa Anosike further corroborated this explaining that the 2,000 corps members comprising of 999 males and 1001 females would be trained in martial arts to equip them with self-defence skills in addition to the normal para-military drills and physical training during the three-week orientation programme. She stressed that the training is meant to “instill discipline in them, toughen their resistance, and imbue in them Spartan-like resilience that will prepare them for whatever challenges they may encounter, during and after their service period.”

On his part, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State charged the 2,426 comprising of 1,355 male and 1,071 female corps members in his state to be security conscious throughout their service year in the state. The governor urged them to be potent instruments in checking the menace of terrorism in the country, adding that this was the only way by which they could save the country from the international embarrassment caused the nation by the terrorists.  “You are all aware of the security challenge which is gradually turning the nation into a terrorist nation before the international community. I charge you to see yourself as instruments to check the menace. Be security conscious at all times," he said.

In Enugu, the issue of safety of corps members also dominated the speech of Governor Sullivan Chime, who tasked the security agencies in the state to provide adequate cover for the corps members wherever they may be posted in the state. This was reinforced by the NYSC Coordinator in the state, Hillary Nasamu, who assured the corps members that the agency had put measures in place to guarantee the safety of over 2,500 corps members posted to the state.

Such is the gory tale of a lofty dream that is gradually heading towards irrelevance or extinction if nothing is urgently done to arrest the situation before hand. Security concerns have taken the place of national unity and integration leading to the vociferous call for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme.