Service to humanity is arguably one of the most respected, and celebrated act. No matter the size of its sphere of contact – be it at the global, national, or community level – the effects improve the lives of the average beneficiaries, while giving the benefactor a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. All these are feasible only when it is inspired by the right motives – the passion to serve!
It’s evident that Nigeria is in need of a rightly-initiated and far-sighted policy that will address her ever-bubbling ethnic tension largely noticeable in the socio-political terrain; a system which will in its wholeness capture the earnest participation of the target class and correct the prevalent ills in our society. And who else to turn to for the outright re-calibration of our ‘service and unity values’ than the youthful and informed generation, and in what better way than a wilful service to the fatherland.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has been the government’s response to a perceived lack of national integration, and potential answer to a dysfunctional civic setup three years after the civil war which ended in January 1970. The civil war opened up an ethnic and regional mess that is yet to be cleaned up, and while NYSC was a timely and astute initiative in those days, recent developments suggest that it urgently requires a total reformation of scope and focus. The expected impacts of the scheme in its current fix is clearly lacking, and its sustenance without re-defining the initial intents in the face of apparent dissatisfaction from various quarters, amounts to a desperate and face-saving act, which will undermine the efforts of the youths in nation-building, and consequently, a fruitless use of the service year.
The vast arrays of criticism aimed against the scheme by past and present corps members calls for immediate re-branding of the scheme to serve its creed – the development of common ties and promotion of national unity – which is obviously not being achieved, as well as serve as a tool for positioning the participants for success in their career paths. It is dampening that most of the graduates look back at the service year with disdain, as a result of the impression it leaves on them. It is literally not a part of their success story. It should be noted that as much as the citizens owe a responsibility to the nation, the nation also owes a responsibility to the citizens.
The haughtiness towards the scheme, due to its in-effectual performance, is also being echoed by the public. So, the question is where does the government stand?
Some commendable changes in the scheme, one of which is the introduction of online registration has lessen the ordeal associated with the mobilisation of corps members, while the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme has continued to make corps members optimistic.
By Jayeola Adedotun (NYSC), The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has laid the foundation of a Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Ekiti State to tackle unemployment facing the youths and students after graduating from tertiary institutions.
The centre is sited in Iyin-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Aea of Ekiti State, hometown of the NYSC Director-General, Brig-Gen. Johnson Olawumi.
Performing the groundbreaking, Olawumi said students desirous of learning various vocations while schooling for economic empowerment could do so at the centre.
To achieve the goal of skills/entrepreneurial training, Olawumi said the NYSC secured the approval of the Federal Government in 2012 to establish a Department of Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) to drive the initiative.
Since then, he said the agency had trained over 410,820 corps members in various vocations to make them self-employed rather than job seekers.
Of the number, Olawumi hinted that 1,600 of them had established businesses in various parts of the country.
When completed, the DG said the centre would be equipped with facilities to train corps members and others in 12 vocations that are in the NYSC SAED Curriculum.
They include agro-allied, food preservation and processing, culture and tourism, cosmetology, information and communications technology, environment, beautification/fashion design and construction.
Others are education, power and energy, film/photography and automobile engineering.
He said the community donated the land for the project, while funds for its execution were being raised through appeals to philanthropists and other well-meaning citizens.
Lauding the project, Governor Ayo Fayose said it would bring development to the community and the state.
Fayose, who was represented by the Head of Service, Dr. Gbenga Faseluka, urged the Ekiti people to support the project.
The Oluyin of Iyin Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaye, said his community was in support of the initiative to succeed, describing its establishment as an opportunity to reinvigorate the economy of the town.
The state NYSC Coordinator, Ibeh Chidubeh, thanked the monarch for donating land for the project, saying SAED was introduced to tackle unemployment among graduates.
Graduating Higher National Diploma (HND) students of Edo State Polytechnic, formerly Edo State Institute of Technology and Management, Usen in Ovia Southwest Council of the state are to be mobilise for the next batch of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
This was the fallout of the visit by 12 representatives of the National Board For Technical Education (NBTE) accreditation team to the school.
Leader of the team, Elder Augustine Efedika, described their visit as a rescue mission to enable the affected students participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in the next batch.
He said a similar move had been carried out at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, and the Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku.
Programmes to be accredited in the school included: HND in Computer Science and Electrical and Electronics.
Efedika recalled that last year,the 12 courses presented to NBTE were accredited.
The Commissioner for Higher Education, Washington Osifo, who was represented by Dr Irene Okakua, a Director in the state Ministry of Education, also said in the previous year, the first phase of accreditation was successful, adding that the government has deployed enough resources to ensure the success of the HND courses.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Rev. Peter Obadan and the Acting Rector, Comrade Patience .O. Edomioya, praised the government’s repeated assistance especially during accreditation period. Edomioya promised that workers, management and students will not disappoint the government.
A job creation component of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is yielding fruit as Corps members become promising entrepreneurs. TONY AKOWE reports
A civil engineering graduate of University of Nigeria Nsukka Ifeanyi Okereke and his Osun State University counterpart Dupe Faith Adeoyin, a biochemist, will end the one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme without worrying about jobs.
The reason is simple: they are already entrepreneurs and well on their way to being employers of labour. They tapped into the job creation vision of the Corps and learned to make shoes and bags and do so quite well.
The idea to equip graduates of tertiary institutions with skills during the Service Year informed the introduction of the skill acquisition and development scheme.
Okereke and Adeoyin were passionate about the skills scheme and are already making a living out of producing shoes and bags.
Okereke told The Nation that the three weeks of camping were not enough to equip them with the required skills and so he had to continue learning the skill after orientation. Ifeanyi who is doing his national service with the Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT said even though the management of the council may not be officially aware of their activities, he has received tremendous encouragement from staff of the council and other residents of the Area a Council she to the patronage he receives from them.
He said that one of the problems he faced in forging ahead was the lack of a ready market for his finished products, adding that people tend to patronise foreign-made shoes, while ignoring hand-made shoes which he believes have the capacity to stand the test of time.
In spite of that, he said he hopes to engage in mass production of shoes in the near future and transform into an employer of labour. He also believes that government should ban the importation of shoes as a way of encouraging local production as well as generate employment for the youth.
Okereke who had his products on display at the NICON Luxury in Abuja, venue of the 2015 National Productivity Order of Merit award believes that with the right funding, especially in the area of infrastructure and machinery, he will come out with quality shoes that will compete favourably with the imported ones.
Adeoyin has to do something that will brighten her future since the government is not providing jobs for the youth.
She is doing her primary assignment with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital did not allow the opportunity offered by the training to pass her bye. But how do they source the materials they are using?
She said, “Sourcing the materials is not a problem for us. They are available in the open market. But we are very careful in buying them because we recognise that we need quality leather to come out with something of quality. When we make them, we sell according to the materials we get. We want to make the best and so, we go for the best quality leather”.
While expressing gratitude to the NYSC for introducing the skill acquisition programme, she appeal to the government to assist them in setting up their trade after their service year.
•Queeneth Inyang demonstrating how to make a toilet seat cover
On her part, Queeneth Inyang who graduated from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana is already savouring the reward of the training as she is already having client asking for her footwear and door mat as well as toilet cover and small pillows made from wool. She told The Nation that she started her own training barely three months ago and still trying to perfect the skills.
She said she was trying to finish a client’s job, adding that she was already running behind schedule.
“One woman placed an order for a complete set,” she said. “Unfortunately, when I went to the market, I could not get the colour she needed. But right now, she has chosen another colour and I am working on her order which will be delivered soon”.
Unlike others who are looking forward to setting up a trade, she is still looking forward to a white collar job and will practice her skills part time. She also intends to train others in tuft craft and probably set up a small business on the side to earn additional revenue.
•Sunday Adeniji and Victoria Nwaobi with their paint products
The pair of Adeniji Sunday and Nwaobi Victoria are not left out. Together, they have learnt how to produce paint which they believe can compete favourably with the established ones in the market. They have also the chosen the name, Copalux as the brand name for their paint. With the NYSC logo to go with it, Adeniji told The Nation that many of them learnt different skills while in camp and can produce different kinds of paint. According to him Copalux is produced with the best quality materials which are environment friendly and non toxic. He said further that the materials are sourced in the local market and are not expensive to buy, pointing out that they have been able to come up with the paint purely from the little allowances they are paid at the end of every month. He said “the greatest challenge we are having is the capital. If we can get enough money and the machines, we can produce in large quantity for sale. It is a very lucrative business and very rewarding. We hope to go into full time production after our service year. What we have produced in accordance with international standard and I can assure you that it can compete with the already established paints in the market”. Victoria on her part wants government to come to their assist financially so that they can set up a small plant and become employers of labour. She said “we are not saying they mugs give us the cash. They can assist us by providing us with the equipment to start. I believe the President should look into this. The NYSC has done well by introducing the skill acquisition programme. I think they should look for a way of helping those who passed through the programme so that the skills acquired is not lost due to lack of capital to start”.
However, officials of the NYSC were not forth coming on the motivation behind the programme. An official of the scheme who came with the Corp members refused t speak saying “we have been warned not to speak to the press. It is only the Director that can talk to you”.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) said yesterday that it has secured an over N200 million bank facility for disbursement to corps members as loans to assist them in starting their businesses.
The NYSC Director General, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, told the Commander, Guards Brigade, Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Musa Yusuf, who visited the NYSC Headquarters in Abuja that corps members could obtain as much as N400,000 each on the submission of a good business plan.
“Corps members based on the business plan they submit could get as much as N250, 000 and N400, 000. We have also signed an MoU with the Bank of Industry, though it is yet to take off, but we are working on it.
“A couple of months ago, I also approached Heritage Bank and it is setting aside the sum of N200 million under a package where corps members will get a soft loan and the only collateral they will have to drop will be their discharge certificate.
“We are also talking with the Central Bank governor to see that a micro credit loan could be arranged specially to address corps members in this category.’’
He said the NYSC has so far trained over 400,000 corps members since the commencement of its skills acquisition programme in over 12 different skills.
He added that the NYSC, under the sponsorship of the World Bank, is currently partnering with an international organisation to train corps members interested in going into the building and property development sector.
Earlier, Brig.-Gen. Yusuf assured the NYSC that the brigade had made adequate security arrangements to ensure the safety of corps members serving in the FCT.
Yusuf said that part of the security arrangements put in place include regular patrolling of the FCT, adding the safety of corps members was one of the priorities of the Guards Brigade.
Concerning the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), I doubt if there is any serving or ex-corps member who would not have a story to tell. As for me, I have a thousand and one stories to tell. The ordeal of corps members across the federation is so heartbreaking and enormous that it would be difficult for one to discuss them in detail here. From poor welfare, problematic postings to the harassment and extortion of corps members by some NYSC officials, the list is endless.
A young lady who finished her service last year recently told me, “If not for the fact that I met a lot of young wonderful folks who hail from different parts of the country—and that was real fun for me, I would have comfortably tagged my NYSC year a ‘wasted’ one.” She continued, “You won’t believe that our LGI (Local Government Inspector) at that time would always harass ladies up and down, threatening them with all sorts of sanctions. Not bad enough, he would compel all corps members to pay, sometimes N200 or N300 each, before we could have our monthly clearance done, despite having been cleared in our Places of Primary Assignment (PPA) as well as Community Development Service (CDS) groups. For goodness sake, isn’t that absurd?”
On a fateful morning when they had all gathered for their monthly clearance, the LGI actually assaulted her. “We all gathered for the July clearance, I think, and we were told to pay the sum of N300 before we could be allowed to sign the Payment Voucher (PV) and I politely told our LGI that I did not have any money to pay. All of a sudden, he got angry and stood up and moved towards my direction and then pushed me in the chest violently. I was really, really dejected.” “Honestly,” she said, “it was as if I was dreaming. No one has ever assaulted me in my entire life. Well, I reported to the nearest police station and got the Zonal Inspector (Z.I) and other officials involved. It’s a very long story.” She wouldn’t conclude the story without saying this: “Many corps members are passing through a lot. I’m sure there are those who have really been traumatised but we never get to hear their stories. It doesn’t make sense at all and this has to stop!”
I’m also quite aware that a number of states still use dilapidated primary or secondary school buildings as their ‘NYSCorientation camp’. For corps members serving in these states, their three-week stay on camp is like ‘hell’ for them—considering the poor welfare. Having jumped over the first hurdle, corps members then begin to grapple with the issuesassociated withpostings to their stations of primary assignment. And what operates today is a typical representation of square pegs in round holes. Take for instance, a Mechanical Engineer or perhaps an Accountant who is deployed to serve as a teacher in a secondary school. Isn’t that totally strange?
Established by Decree No. 24 of 22nd May 1973, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme was created in a bid to reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil War. And then, a little over four decades later, what has become of this brilliant initiative?
Within the past few years, there have been a lot of arguments as to whether the scheme should be scrapped or not. Those who argue for the former cite the incessant killings of corps members by insurgents and accidents, and ineffectiveness of the programme, as their main concerns while their opponents believe the programme helps to promote unity among Nigerians. To a very large extent, it seems as though these arguments have finally been laid to rest as President Muhammadu Buhari boldly declared recently: “I firmly believe in NYSC and I think it should remain a national programme to promote integration.” I also think the scheme should not be scrapped but it has to undergo very serious rehabilitation.
A total overall of NYSC Scheme is needed. This should start with effective and transparent monitoring of all activities of the officials—from the highest to the lowest—who have been saddled with the responsibility of running the National Youth Service programme. All cases of corruption must be thoroughly investigated and properly dealt with.
Corps members should be posted to their areas of competence so that they can use their fresh-from-school ideas to transform the economy—and the nation at large. According to Mrs Rabi Jimeta (the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth Development), the yearly enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 in 1974 to 229, 016 in 2014. And it’s been projected that the number may rise to 300,000 by year 2020. This is a huge number and the nation should take advantage of it. Imagine the deployment of over two-hundred thousand young energetic minds into the various sectors—Agriculture, Education, Health, Information and Communication Technology, Oil and Gas, Mining, Manufacturing, Banking. This is not enough; they should be empowered and also given an enabling environment to work. You would agree with me that many of our dead sectors shall come alive. After all, the future of any country depends on the youths. If adequate provisions are not made for them today, then we are obviously sleeping on a time bomb.
Effective leadership as well as various capacity development programmes should also be introduced into the scheme. I’m not talking about one-week training on bead making or baking of cakes which mostly take place during the orientation camp. Inasmuch as those trainings are helpful, they are not good enough to prepare the next generation of Nigerian leaders who are expected to take the bull by the horns and cause transformational change—I mean our future leaders deserve more.
It’s also not a bad idea if low-interest medium to long term loans are made available to corps members who desire to set up their own Small and Medium Scale Enterprises post-NYSC. Who knows? Maybe this would give birth to thousands of Dangotes, Elumelus, Adenugas, Alakijas in the years ahead.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi recently said, “We are still thinking of ways we can use the scheme to address present challenges beyond the original challenge of national unity and integration.” If the necessary reforms are carried out in the right way and at the right time, the NYSC scheme that frustrates Nigerian graduates today can go on to empower them tomorrow.
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), an NGO, has urged the Federal Government not to stop expectant women and nursing mothers from participating in National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The HURIWA National Coordinator, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja that stopping them from taking part in the programme would be discriminatory.
He said the action would deny them the opportunity of benefiting from the objectives of the scheme.
According to Onwubiko, the move could jeopardise harmony in some families as wives, who were due for service, could deny their husbands intimate relationship for fear of being stopped from national service.
He said the move also contravened Section 42 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Onwubiko said the Constitution was clear that “government policy cannot be couched and implemented to primarily discriminate against any group of citizens under any guise.”
Also speaking, Mr Patrick Odey, an activist, told NAN that it would not be proper to deny women the right to national service on account of pregnancy or nursing of babies.
He said the move negates the aim of NYSC, which includes encouraging relationship among Nigerian youths.
The National Open University Students Association of Nigeria has expressed dissatisfaction in the non-participation of its members in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The National President of the association, Mr Nelson Nwaonicha, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba yesterday.
Nwaonicha said the non-inclusion of the graduates of the university in the NYSC programme was discriminatory.
He said there was great pride in serving one’s country, as the NYSC gave every Nigerian graduate a sense of belonging, personal worth and recognition by one’s own nation.
He said it would amount to abandonment and violation of the principle of federal character and integration, if a set of Nigerian students were not included in the scheme.
Nwaonicha said the service was created to inculcate discipline in, educate and integrate the youth, regardless of their institutional, cultural and social backgrounds.
He appealed to the National Assembly to review the Act establishing the NOUN with a view to including its graduates in the allowed age bracket in the programme.
The national president also called on the management of the university to stop admitting students for law programmes, pending the approval of the Law School.
He recalled that the first two sets of law graduates of the NOUN had not been admitted into the law school to be certified to practice their trade.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday promised that his administration would take necessary actions to maintain and improve the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme as a functional vehicle for the promotion of national unity and integration.
Buhari gave the assurance after receiving a briefing from officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, led by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta.
The President, according to a statement by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, affirmed his confidence and trust in the programme, noting that the objective for which the scheme was established in 1973 was still relevant for national development.
He said: “I firmly believe in NYSC and I think it should remain a national programme to promote integration.
“Whenever I go home to Daura, I look out for corps members from Lagos, Aba and other parts of the country.
“I am always thrilled to learn that except for the NYSC, some of them have never left their states of origin to visit other cities in the country,” President Buhari said.
Mrs. Jimeta told the President that the increasing number of NYSC participants posed a challenge to the scheme due to the dwindling revenue, from the national budget, to cater for their needs.
She told the President that the annual enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 at inception in 1974 to 229,016 in 2014.
“Given the increasing number of tertiary institutions, our projection is that the number of corps participants may rise to 300,000 by 2020,’’ she said.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, told the President that there were plans to make the scheme voluntary and reduce the corps population to make the programme more sustainable.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday promised that his administration will take all necessary actions to maintain and improve the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme as a functional vehicle for the promotion of national unity and integration.
Buhari gave the assurance after receiving a briefing from officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development led by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta.
The President, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, affirmed his confidence and trust in the programme, noting that the objective for which the scheme was established in 1973 is still very relevant for national development now.
He said: “I firmly believe in NYSC and I think it should remain a national programme to promote integration.
“Whenever I go home to Daura, I look out for Corps members from Lagos, Aba and other parts of the country.
“I am always thrilled to learn that except for the NYSC, some of them have never left their states of origin to visit other cities in the country.”
Mrs. Jimeta told the President that the increasing number of NYSC participants posed a challenge to the scheme due to the dwindling revenue from the national budget, to cater for their needs.
She told the President that the annual enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 at inception in 1974 to 229,016 in 2014.
“Given the increasing number of tertiary institutions, our projection is that the number of corps participants may rise to 300,000 by year 2020,’’ she said.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, told the President that there were plans to make the scheme voluntary and reduce the corps population to make the programme more sustainable.
