Youth corps members can be defined as a group of Nigerian youths that
are being mobilized to serve the country in their respective capacities having
successfully completed their degree or diploma programmes in any recognized
higher citadel of learning across the globe.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a paramilitary scheme
established by law on 22nd May 1973 after the Nigerian Civil War
with the sole motive of strengthening and restructuring the Nigerian state as
well as creating a greater solidarity among the members of the country. The
scheme is compulsory for every Nigerian graduate whose age falls between
eighteen (18) to thirty (30) years irrespective of the country in which the
university or polytechnic he/she attended is situated, provided it is a
recognized institution.
The National Youth Service Programme is divided into three major
segments namely; the Orientation Camping, the Place of Primary Assignment
(PPA), and the Community Development Service (CDS) respectively. The
Orientation Camping, which is a core paramilitary training, enables the corps
members to be physically and mentally prepared to face their subsequent
endeavours. The PPA segment, which creates a platform for them to be posted to
various establishments in respect to their respective qualifications, is an
avenue for them to practice whatever they have learnt during their school days.
Whilst, the CDS section is
designed to ensure that each of the corps members, either individually or
collectively, contribute his or her quota towards the development of their host
communities.
In recent years, many pressing issues have been raised regarding the
real essence of mobilizing fresh Nigerian graduates under the aegis of the
NYSC. The outpouring enquiries or questions from the general public are not
unconnected to their quest towards ascertaining the actual socio-economic
significance of the scheme.
Indeed, the most distinct feature of the NYSC scheme, which has to do
with deploying the fresh graduates or the prospective corps members to states
or zones they may have not been before, remains the major recipe that has
enabled the scheme to genuinely contribute its quota to the Nigeria’s economic
platform.
For instance, considering
electoral matters, a corps member who hails from Sokoto State and is being
deployed to serve in Anambra State stands to be neutral if being assigned to
function as an ad-hoc Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official
in any locality in Anambra State because he/she would barely know any of the
aspirants or contestants or would in no way be a relative to any of them. This
would no doubt create an avenue for transparent voting system at the polls
since the corps member would have no personal interest in regard to the
election(s) in question.
Furthermore, the recent introduction of the Skill Acquisition and
Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) training in the NYSC scheme is simply not
unlike placing a round peg in a round hole. The SAED programme was founded to
enable the corps members to be well informed and orientated on the importance
of entrepreneurship as well as equip them with the required skills towards the
establishment of vocational outfits of their choices. And since the invention
of the platform, most Nigerian graduates who have successfully completed their
NYSC programmes have been opportune to become self-employed or better still
employers of labour in various fields of endeavour.
On the other hand, the role of
the NYSC scheme in job creation cannot be overemphasized. Apparently, the
scheme has enabled thousands of unemployed Nigerians to be gainfully employed
thereby making them financially independent or useful in their various
families. Suffice to say; the scheme has not only helped in creating a greater
solidarity among the Nigerian youth as its aim implies, but has also succeeded
in uplifting the socio-economic and political platform of the country.
Since the NYSC scheme has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it is
indeed a worthwhile scenario, there is need for the crusade regarding its
sustenance to be intensified. Against this backdrop, it is worthy to note that
reviewing some of its prime challenges such as the monthly allowance of the youth
corps members is long overdue.
Currently, the corps members are being paid the sum of nineteen thousand
eight hundred naira (#19,800). Considering the present economic situation in
the country coupled with the fact that most of these corps members are not
provided with accommodation spaces by their places of primary assignment, there
is an urgent need for the government to review the said allowance with a view
of increasing the amount in question for the interest of the corps members,
their various families, and Nigeria at large.
It is so pathetic to observe that most of these corps members are still
being catered for by their respective parents or guardians due to the inability
of their monthly allowances to properly take care of them, especially the
female ones that are considered to be more demanding owing to their natural
needs.
Against this backdrop, the government should not hesitate to embark on
an onward review of the said stipend that is presently causing several of our
learned youths more harm than good, which could make them to constitute
nuisance to their various societies. Also, the members of the legislature ought
to as a matter of urgency endeavour to sign the anticipated new allowance into
law as soon as the bill is made available to them by the executive arm.
On their part, the civil society groups must help to ensure that the
suggested measure is considered seriously by the various arms of government.
Most importantly, every concerned stakeholder ought to acknowledge the fact
that the proposed or anticipated reform is long overdue, therefore should not
be taken for granted. Think about it!
COMR FRED
DOC NWAOZOR
(The Media Ambassador)_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056
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