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One of the front-burner issues today is a call for scraping of the NYSC Scheme owing to recent explosion of insecurity and crisis that claimed lives of NYSC members. Regrettably, it would take ages for families of the slain Corps members to soothe their injured emotions.
Now, the question of whether the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) should exist or not in the Nigerian polity is a very controversial issue that requires a vivid consideration of the pros and cons in order to strike a balance. Note must be taken, however, that irrespective of the lucrative of a particular policy or programme in the society, it is never devoid of criticisms and defects. Such is the case with the NYSC programme in Nigeria.
The Birth of the NYSC Scheme
The NYSC Scheme is an ‘off-spring’ of a military junta, which was born some thirty-eight (38) years ago, on the 22nd of May 1973, under the auspices and iron-fist of General Yakubu Gowon – the then Head of States and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces. The Scheme, by May 22, 2011 attained thirty-eight (38) solid years and suffices to assert that if the Programme were a human being, he would have grown enough to head a nuclear family.
Anchored by Decree No. 24 of 1973, the NYSC scheme remains, until now and probably years to come, an indelible significant footprint in the sands of time, even though authored by a much-talked and criticized Administration during the dark days, immediately after the protracted civil war in Nigeria. This is, indeed, one of the superlative legacies bequeathed to Nigerians by the former military junta.
In the subsequent paragraphs of this essay, the adjectival use of ‘superlative legacy’ to describe the scheme shall be justified.
The NYSC: Aims & Objectives
Having undergone several months of political instability, the NYSC scheme was promulgated to, among many other aims and objectives, foster peace and promote national unity as one of the key elements. It is, indeed, created with a view to raise the morale tone of our youths by giving them an opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievements and socio-cultural improvement to develop the common ties among our teeming youths in order that the youths are exposed to the culture of the people in different parts of the country outside their immediate ethic dominance.
Another objective of the scheme focuses on the possibility of free movement of labour so that corps members could seek career opportunity all over the nooks and crannies of the country hitch-free at the end of their service year.
Owing to the fact that life after school is full of challenges and hurdles, the programme seeks to ensure that a tradition of industry, patriotism, loyalty, most importantly, tolerance and discipline are instilled in the youths to forestall laxity in their endeavours.
The NYSC: Objectives met or not?
The NYSC scheme, which was born in controversy either because Nigerians were simply impatient with the cynicism of the military dictatorship or sheer misconstrued of the motives of the scheme by some critics, was marred by barrage of criticisms. But, without sentiment, the programme has become a household name in Nigeria today to the extent that graduates of our time from the higher institutions of learning in Nigeria can never wait to see themselves adorned in the khaki uniform – a thing of pride.
NYSC Corps members are inter-transferred and assigned to jobs in states of the federation far away from their states of origin and geographical locations. Many Nigerians today who are ex-corps members, since inception of the programme, secured jobs in their various state of deployment. By this, is the objective of free movement of labour not met?
Moreover, numerous corps members serving at their primary assignments in their various states of deployment have cause to live together as one family. Some male and female friends (in several cases) saw themselves walking down the isle or finding their ‘missing ribs’ within the communities of their assignments. These are, in fact, promotion of national unity and integration of cultural differences.
Research has revealed that the greatest contribution of the scheme is in the area of education. Convincingly, not less than 60% of corps members serve in educational sector, and its impacts have been immeasurable on the entire economy. While the benefits of education to society are too well known to make emphasis unnecessary, it suffices to say that it is generally believed to hold the key to accelerated national development. The educated man is free from ignorance and repression.
Lest I forget, it is noted from available literature that some states have been subsidizing the others by contributing more participants to the scheme than they have been receiving. In other words, the scheme has effectively played a balancing role in the development efforts of the nation.
NYSC: A Comparison
The NYSC programme is, certainly, not an exclusive birthright of Nigerian nation. Similar services involving the youths have been conceptualized in the western world, and have been replicated in the African continent including our dear Nigeria. It is irrefutable that countries like Mexico, Israel, Egypt, United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), China, are living examples of countries with State involvement in the scheme. Of course, Nigeria, among other African nations has been championing the course with countries like South Africa and Kenya, Ghana joining the league.
In the developed countries “National Service” is a common name for mandatory Government Service Programmes. The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War.
In the Asia, India has a separate programme called the “National Service Scheme (NSS)” in which students from primary level to graduate level participate. In some Indian colleges (like IITs), it is a compulsory part of curricula.
In countries like Russia, several Youth Service Programmes are established and funded by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) primarily for foreign donors. Hungary, Poland, The Philippines, Canada, etc, have very weak or no involvement of government in the scheme. Although both cases have participation of teeming youths in the programme for specific number of months and years, depending on the modus operandi.
In the developing countries, the Ghana National Service Scheme (NSS) – a splendid instance – operates under the Ghana National Service Scheme Act of 1980, Act 426, which replaced NRCD 208 of 1973. Under the new Act, National Service Personnel (NSP) are required to render a mandatory service for a period of two years including a minimum period of six months military training. However, in 1995, the two-year duration was changed to one-year. In year 2011 alone, the Scheme featured a resounding number of about 55,000 youths out of the minute population of about 23 million.
The Scheme as currently constituted provides newly qualified graduates the opportunity to have practical exposure on the job, both in the public and private sectors, as part of their civic responsibility to the State. It also provides user agencies the opportunity to satisfy their manpower needs and affords communities that would otherwise have difficulty in accessing mainstream development initiatives, access to improved social services through community service.
In the wake of the nation’s political crises in 1965, Nigerian Students had prevailed on the Federal Government to initiate a National Youth Service programme, fashioned after Kwame Nkrumah’s Young Pioneers in Ghana, to mobilize Nigerian youths into a highly purposeful and productive national service.
The Drawbacks of the NYSC Scheme
Since its inception, the NYSC programme, which is said to be the brainchild of Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd), has been confronted with a plethora of tribulations. Having attained the age of adulthood, one expected that, if it were human, would have garnered pool of experience to cater for his immediate family. Alas! The case is almost the reverse as the scheme is gradually wearing out given the attendant squalor that marred its operations. Some of these setbacks are enunciated below:
- Underutilization and Non-utilization of Corp Members: Corps Members frequently encounter this perennial problem at their primary duties stations. Many establishments have the knack of reducing Corps Members to glorified Clerks and Office Assistants thereby impeding the possibility of exploring their worth – a pure case of fixing a square peg in a round hole.
- Under-funding of the Scheme: It is, indeed, ironical that while the scope, responsibilities, as well as the population of the participants grow tremendously annually, its allocation in the federal and state budgets in each fiscal year remains tardy and stagnant.
- Insufficient and Poor Scheme Materials and Facilities: provision of necessary materials ranging from food, cloth and shelter is diminishing. Corps members are almost left to romance the problem of kits and food independently. Where these are provided, it is always an apology. Nowadays, corps members buy white vests and shorts that fits and last for them; finding solace in the makeshift restaurants during 3-week orientation programme is the other of day due to poor quality of food.
- Indiscipline and Corruption: No doubts, NYSC Officials are alleged to have formed the habit of diverting materials meant for the scheme for personal consumption; corps members now are found of lobbying for postings and deployments to buoyant establishments and states; corps members now lax in their primary assignments and treat the NYSC scheme with sheer negligence.
NYSC: Be or Not to Be
When the Decree establishing the scheme was promulgated by the then Military Government the most violent opposition against the programme came from the student population. The students groused bitterly and believed that participation in the scheme would delay the entry of the new graduates into the labour market, thereby unduly punishing parents who had invested heavily in the education of their children. They therefore argued that the introduction of free university education programme should ideally precede the establishment of the NYSC.
This argument was buttressed by the fact that the vast majority of the graduates were from the south and the decree which called for participants to serve in states other than their own, meant that most of the service participants would be posted to the northern states. Finally, some parents were reluctant to have their children work in places far from their homes.
Although the Civil War and its attendant hostilities had ended over years earlier, many parents feared the relapse of the breakdown of law and order any time. Added to this were the inter-ethnic prejudices that still prevailed in the nation. The danger of some participants innocently contravening some traditional customs and behaviour, with potentially life threatening reprisals, was also cited as security threat.
Having taken into cognizance the aforementioned apprehensions at the onset, the die-hard efforts underlying the scheme for the interest of the national unity cannot be overemphasized. Let us hear the views of some prominent Nigerians towards the scheme, after then a stance could be taken.
In his lecture note during the Silver Jubilee of the scheme held in Abuja in (1998), Professor Adebayo Adedeji, the pioneer Chairman of the NYSC, likened the rapid development of the programme to the biblical grain of mustard seed planted in 1973 that has become a huge tree in 1998. Hear him; “In spite of all the odds, the NYSC scheme has not only remained intact, but has also prospered and expanded considerably…”
Speaking in the same direction, Dr. Lanre Bamidele of the University of Ibadan observed, “There is no aspect of the Nigerian social, cultural, and economic life that the NYSC has not been touched, or has not contributed meaningfully. It has become a household name in the educational sector that one can say that if it is for this sector alone, the NYSC shall continue to be relevant as too long as the resources could maintain it.”
On the 13th of January 1996, a team of five Technical Experts chaired by Gregory Kas Enegwea, was in The Gambia to establish a replica of the NYSC scheme, Gambia National Youth Service Scheme (GNYSS) on the formal request by The Gambian Government. No wonder! The Minister for Youth and Sports in The Gambia, Mrs. Aminah Faal-Sonko, on January 15, 1996 was quoted to have said; “The Members of The Gambian Study Team that visited America, Europe, the Middle East and a number of African countries in search of a Model Youth Service Scheme for The Gambia, were unanimous in their report that ‘the NYSC in Nigeria is the best organized youth service programme in the world’”.
The Way Forward
Since its establishment in 1973, the NYSC has made such tangible and intangible achievements and are truly worthy of celebration. Indeed, the scheme is today acclaimed as one of the principle instrumentalities in nation building and development. With such monumental achievements to show for its existence, a few lone voices that have called for the abolition of the NYSC need to rethink.
Admittedly, the decree establishing the scheme in 1973 “took into cognizance, the vexed issue of national unity after the civil war and the attendant burden of under development, poverty, ignorance and socioeconomic problems typical of most developing countries.” Since these issues continue to plague us as a developing nation, the NYSC would continue to be relevant.
These are all social issues that bother every developing country and it might be right to accept that the NYSC is “a timeless scheme.” The situation that called for the enabling decree in 1973 is still with us. The growing insecurity and increasing poverty line is scaring; the rate of ignorance in socio-cultural behaviour has not abated; the national psyche on cohesion seems low, and work ethics even among the young have not improved.
Going by the explosion of security threats across the nation, it becomes pertinent that the involvement of Nigerian youths in armed security services be skyrocketed accordingly. It is high time the government geared its efforts into recruiting numerous graduates for this purpose rather than scampering for the O’ level candidates.
If these continue, the NYSC shall remain relevant. The NYSC will even become more relevant as new focus shall continue to motivate the young ones to be active participants in movements for pro-social actions and political change. As Professor Adebayo Adedeji, the first chairman of the scheme rightly noted, “One Head of State after the other has passed the NYSC baton unto his successor-in-office.”
Now, do we need services of soothsayer to realize that “we must use our tongue to count our teeth?
OKPANACHI JIBRIL FAROUK writes from Asokoro District, Abuja
0704 135 3309, 0806 603 1459
