Acivil society organisation, Save Nigeria Movement has chided those calling for the scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme because of insecurity, noting that doing so would amount to cowardice.
The CSO said the security challenges in the country couldn’t be used as yardstick to call for the scrapping of the scheme.
The organisation argued that scrapping the NYSC on the ground of insecurity would amount to “emboldening the criminals and making a caricature of the nation and undermining the gallantry of security personnel who are working day and night to ensure the total defeat and elimination of all forms of insecurity in the country.”
Convener of the group, Solomon Semaka, at a news conference argued that such an idea was “retrogressive and highly detrimental to the interest of the nation.”
The organisation wondered why a group – Human Rights and Justice Group International chose to hide under the banner of CSOs to attack the NYSC and by extension the unity of the country without any justification.
Semaka said: “This is not the first time a self-styled group will call for the scrapping or suspension of the Scheme and we, like many Nigerians, must rise up in defense of the mandate of the scheme as given to us by our founding fathers.
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“Military barracks and Police Stations have also been attacked in most parts of the country but nobody has asked for the disbandment of the military or police, why is the case of NYSC different?
“For the unpatriotic groups and individuals calling for the disbandment of the Scheme as a solution to insecurity in the country, it is important to remind them that the NYSC is not a security agency. The reported incidents of kidnapping or death of Corps members and indeed that of any Nigerian is a painful and emotionally traumatizing experience that is highly regrettable but it is not the NYSC that should be held responsible.
“It is equally unpatriotic to blame security personnel directly because they are doing their best, even though there’s room for much improvement. Asking for the suspension of the Scheme is therefore, totally out of context as one cannot ask that a hospital be shut down because a few patients have died of a particular disease.
“What all Nigerians, including those calling for the suspension of the NYSC should do is to assist security personnel with the right intelligence to safeguard their communities from criminals. One thing is clear, suspending the scheme won’t end insecurity in the country.
“We must remember the objectives of the NYSC scheme, especially that of fostering unity and social interactions amongst the diverse ethnic nationalities in the country. As a post-civil war initiative, the founding fathers of the Scheme were deliberate in ensuring that educated young Nigerians be given the opportunity to interact across cultural divides and foster unity and oneness.”