ByIkennaUwadileke,NewsAgencyofNigeria(NAN)
Rep. Awaji Inombek Abiante, a member of the House of Representatives recently sponsored a bill proposing that the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) be scrapped.
The scheme was established in 1973 after the Nigerian Civil War, designed to promoteReconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation.
The scheme was also set up to bridge ethnic and religious divisions in the country and to foster the spirit of nationalism.
It was mandatory at the initial stage for all graduates of tertiary institutions, but the age was later pegged at 30 years, while holders of National Certificate in Education (NCE) were excluded.
In spite the objectives of the NYSC, many Nigerians think it is high time that the scheme was scrapped, arguing that it has lost its relevance.
Nodoubt,Abiantessuggestiontoscraptheschemeisreinforcingthatargument,
thatthe NYSCsobjectives ought to be reviewedorupdatedtofitthecurrent realitiesofmodernNigeria.
Abiante,inhisexplanatorymemorandumoftheproposal, gave reasonstheNYSC should be scrapped.
He noted that incessant killings due to insecurity and frequent rejection of corps members by some public and private agencies as some of the reasons.
Accordingtothelawmaker,ThebillseekstorepealSection315(5)(a)oftheConstitutionoftheFederalRepublicofNigeria,1999,(asamended)onthefollowinggrounds:
Incessantkillingsofinnocentcorpsmembersinsomepartsofthecountryduetobanditry,religiousextremism,andethnicviolence.
Publicandprivateagencies/departmentsarenolongerrecruitingableandqualifiedNigerianyouths.
Theyrelyheavilyontheavailabilityofcorpsmemberswhoarenotbeingwellremuneratedandgetdiscardedwithimpunityattheendoftheirserviceyear,withoutanyhopeofbeinggainfullyemployed.
Duetoinsecurityacrossthecountry,theNationalYouthServiceCorpsmanagementnowgivesconsiderationtopostingcorpsmemberstotheirgeopoliticalzone.
Availablerecordshowsthatin2011,sevencorpsmemberswerekilledduringthepost-electionviolencethateruptedinsomepartsofthecountryafterthepresidentialelection.
Despitetheseglaringproblems,thequestionastowhetherNYSChasoutliveditsusefulness is debatable.
AccordingtoMrsAutaPrecious,aparent,thesituationathandunderscoresthebeliefthatifnothingisdonedifferently,theNYSCwouldhaveachievedlessinunitingthenation,particularlyinrecenttimes.
Preciousqueriedtherationaleinpostingcorpsmemberstoplacesthatareunderheavysecuritythreats.
Accordingtoher,theschemewhichisdesignedtopromotenationalunityseemstohavelostitsobjective.
Doyounoticethatmanypeopledontwanttoserveinotherareasapartfromwheretheyareconversantwith?
ThesedaysyoucanschoolinAbujaandstillserveinthesamecitywhichwasneverthepracticeunlessinsomespecialcases.
NYSCwasdesignedtomovecorpsmemberstovariouspartsofthecountryoutsidetheirbasetounderstandandappreciateotherpeoplescultureandreligionandindoingsofosternationalunityandnationalintegration,shesaid.
MrsToluShalewa,ateacher,saidthattheschemeispromotingimmoralityamongsomecorpsmembersfollowingtheircontinuedrejectionbyprivateandgovernmentagencies.
Accordingtoher,thisimmoralityisheightenedbecausetheallowancetheyarepaidisnotenoughforhouserent,transportationandfeeding.
One of the corps members, Miss Olaedo Ugochukwu, urged the Federal Government to review and update the NYSC
UgochukwubelievesthatareviewedNYSCshouldfocusontrainingeverygraduateonself- defence,vocationalskillsandentrepreneurship.
Thismaybeforjustamonthortwoanditisimportanttoincreasecorpsmembersallowancesotheycanhavestart-upcapitalstoengageinmeaningfulventuresuponcompletionoftheservice.
Manygraduates, with start-up capitalwillbeginbusinesses anddevelopquickly,Ugochukwusaid.
Onthecontrary,MalamAbdulmajeedNuhu,acorpsmember,insiststhatNYSChasachieveditsobjectiveofpromotingnationalunity.
Theschemehasprovidedtheopportunityforalotofpeopletotraveltodifferentstatesandregionsandinteractedwithpeopleofdifferentethnicgroups.
Becauseofthisscheme,wehavelearnttounderstandotherpeopleswaysofdoingthings.
Though we dont celebrate it, but there are increasing inter ethnic marriages that one should have course to give credit to the NYSC.
IhavespentallmylifeintheWesternpartofNigeria,butafterbeingpostedtotheNorthfortheoneyearnationalservice,Ihavebeenabletotravelacrossdifferentstates.
Thishasprovidedaplatformtomeetandinteractwithvariouscalibreofpeoplefromvariousethnic groups,therebyexpandingmysocialnetwork.
WhatotherschemewillachievethisobjectiveifNYSCisscrapped,Nuhuqueried.
MsLoisJonathan,ajournalist,hailedNYCSscapacitytoexposeNigerianyouthstotheworkenvironment.
Alotofyouthswouldnothavehadanyworkexperienceifnotforthisscheme.
Beingpostedtodifferentplacesofprimaryassignmenthasmadethemmoreresponsible.
Theyareassigneddutiesandtheylearnworkethics,humanrelationshipanddisciplinewhichwillhelpthemevenafterservice.
NYSCisawayofempoweringtheyouthsaftergraduation.
Imagineaftergraduation,nojob,noworkexperience,noexposure,howcananaverageNigerianyouthcope?Buttheschemehasengagedtheseyouthsmeaningfullyforoneyear.
Theallowancemaynotbeenough,butsmartpeoplesavepartofit,gainworkexperience,exploreopportunitiesandexpandtheirnetworkduringtheperiod.
So,evenafterservice,theyhavewheretostartfrom,shesaid.
SheencouragedcorpsmemberstoexploretheskillacquisitionandentrepreneurdevelopmentschemeoftheNYSCtoempowerthemselves.
NYSChasitsflawsbutthebenefitsoutweighthem.Insteadofscrappingthescheme,theyshouldmodifyit,hestressed.
While most young Nigerians on social media appear to agree with Abiante, Youth and Sports Minister, Sunday Dares position is that the NYSC wont be scrapped.
TheNYSCschemeremainsoneofthegreatesttoolsfornationaldevelopmentforouryouths.ThecommitmentofthegovernmenttosustainingtheNYSCschemeremains.
Dynamicreformsandinitiativestowardscurrentrealitiesareongoing.Nigeriawillstandwithheryouths,Dare, whose ministry oversees the NYSC sharedonTwitter.
Similarly, Brig,-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, Director General of the NYSC says the scheme is critical to the unity of the country.
According to Ibrahim, the NYSC is not a waste of time, its relevance in integration and national cohesion must not be underestimated.
He said that the NYSC has been a useful tool for the socio-economic development of the country through the deployment of corps members outside their base.
Ibrahimaddedthatcorpsmemberscontributeinmanywaystothelivesofresidentsoftheirhostcommunities.
The bill to scrap the NYSC still has to go through two more readings in the Green Chamber and rounds of debates in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The federal lawmakers should listen to the voices of Nigerians and do the needful. (NANFeatures)
Source: NAN News