By Olakunle Olafioye (Lagos), Noah Ebije, Sola Ojo (Kaduna), Emmanuel Adeyemi (Lokoja), Aloy Attah (Onitsha), and Tony John (Port Harcourt)
From every indication, the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme, has essentially lost much of its glitter. It used to be what students graduating from the universities and the polytechnics looked forward to. But not anymore. Then graduating students upon receiving their call-up letters for National Youth Service gladly head off to their orientation camps in the various parts of the country different from their states of origin with joy and excitement.
Being called-up for the national service was a clear testament that one had attained a very significant milestone by graduating with a degree from a university or Higher National Diploma from a polytechnic.
For people in their 50s and older, who experienced the allure of the NYSC in its heyday, would readily agree that what exists now is not the robust youth service scheme established by former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon in 1973, to stir up a sense of patriotism in the nation’s youths.
Several negative factors, including insecurity, inadequate funding, abduction of corps members for ransom and in several instances summary execution by insurgents in the northern parts of the country, have coalesced to make Nigerians have a rethink of the whole essence of the youth service scheme.
Equally worrisome is the impact which the bad economy has had on welfare of corps members as the payment of their meagre allowances popularly known as ‘Allowee’, already battered by inflation, is sometimes unduly delayed.
From the various parts of the country, reports from our reporters paint the clear pictures of the plight of youth corps members.
LAGOS
In Lagos State, the major challenge of corps members serving in the Centre of Excellence is the prohibitive cost of living, which is spiralling as the economy worsens.
The situation has compelled them to appeal to the Federal Government to raise their monthly allowance to reflect the current economic realities in the country.
Those who spoke to Sunday Sun said that rents are taking the larger chunk of their allowance, leaving them in dire financial situations to meet other obligations, including feeding and transportation.
A corps member, who gave only his first name, Lucius, said that while the relatively peaceful nature of the state remains a major allure for prospective corps members to Lagos, the high cost of living in the major repelling factor.
Lucius said in addition to his N33,000 federal allowance, he is also paid N25,000 at his place of primary assignment.
He, however, pointed out that he still had to get additional financial support from his parents to be able to meet his needs.
“The high cost of living in Lagos is the major challenge corps members are facing. My rent on a monthly basis is approximately N15,000 because I share a N350,000 apartment a year with a colleague. I spend an average of N700 on transportation daily, which is approximately N14,000. There are still other bills, including electricity, security, waste collection and other ones. By the time we settle all these bills we are left with almost nothing. The saving grace is that I have parents who understand and are able to support. Otherwise, I don’t know how I will be able to cope,” he said.
Speaking in the same vein, Noimot, another corps member, serving in the state, urged the Federal Government to at least pay corps members the national minimum wage, saying that her current monthly allowance can barely sustain her for two weeks.
The Kwara State-born Corper said that despite living in a free accommodation provided by her employer, she still relies on the support from family members to augment her monthly stipend.
KADUNA
In the face of the regular reports of attacks by armed herdsmen, bandits and insurgents in parts of Kaduna State, Governor Uba Sani has not ceased to assure corps members posted to the state of his commitment to their welfare and security, stressing that his administration is doing everything possible to ensure that they actualise their set goals and objectives.
The state government, the governor said, would work with relevant security operatives in ensuring that all residents of the state, including corps members, sleep with their two eyes closed.
In the same vein, the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Yusha’u Ahmed, told Sunday Sun in an interview that the scheme, in collaboration with other sister agencies, has mapped out red spots and would never post corps members to such places to serve.
He said: “In addition to self-security tips the scheme is giving them, we are also collaborating with sister agencies and paramilitary agents to ensure they are safe wherever they are posted.
“We are working together within and outside of the camps to ensure that corps members are safe. We have equally told them to respect the culture, tradition, and norms of the communities where they will be posted so they can add value in those places.”
Also, the President-General of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima, noted that while the NYSC programme retains its significance as a vehicle for fostering unity and imparting essential skills to the youths, its contemporary relevance demands a careful reassessment of its operational framework.
“By prioritising the safety and well-being of corps members, through meticulous deployment strategies, comprehensive training, and robust support systems, the NYSC can continue to serve its over-arching goal of national development and integration, ensuring that young Nigerians are not only empowered, but also protected as they contribute to the nation’s progress.
“One of the primary reasons for maintaining the relevance of NYSC is its role in promoting national integration because Nigeria’s complex ethnic composition presents a challenge in building a cohesive national identity.
“However, the relevance of NYSC must be weighed against certain drawbacks that have emerged over the years. Concerns surrounding safety, particularly for corps members assigned to unfamiliar or volatile territories, have gained prominence.
“Instances of violence, harassment, and even fatalities have cast a shadow over the programme, prompting questions about the adequacy of protections afforded to young Nigerians serving across diverse terrains,” he said.
For the President of the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Isah Abubakar, the “NYSC has lost its core values because it has been politicised, and this has made it more difficult to give the desired result. A lot of people choose where they want to serve or be posted, which is not the ideal behind the establishment of the scheme.
“Although we might consider the challenges of insecurity in some parts of the country as a reason behind people choosing where to serve, in my opinion, it is important that the government creates an enabling environment for a safer society so that corps members can be free to serve in any part of the country as it used to be.”
A parent, Pastor Emmanuel Folorunsho, believes that with the support of all, NYSC can do better than it is in terms of the security of corps members and enhanced allowances for them, especially in the face of the current economic realities in the country.
“I strongly believe that NYSC can do better. NYSC used to be our pride as graduates in the past looked up to it. But the current state of insecurity in the country is also affecting the scheme. No parent will be happy that after all it takes to raise a child till he or she finished tertiary education only for that child to be harassed, kidnapped, or even killed just because of national service. So, the government and the scheme must do everything possible to ensure the safety of these young Nigerians wherever they are serving,” he said.
Meanwhile, serving corps members are regimented in Kaduna State, hence their refusal to speak to the press to avoid being sanctioned by the relevant authorities.
KOGI
Kogi State has for many years been witnessing the incidents of kidnapping of ordinary people, either living in the state or transiting through it to Abuja and other neighbouring states. Recognising its vital status as the country’s confluence point, the Kogi State government put adequate measures in place to safeguard youth corps members posted to the state, especially at the Asaya-Kabba Orientation Camp.
Sunday Sun gathered from reliable sources close to the Office of the Kogi State Security Adviser, Commander Jerry Omodara (rtd), that a sizeable number of soldiers and operatives of Nigerian Civil Defence Corps are permanently stationed at the Asaya-Kabba Orientation Camp, to provide security for the corps members and the officials supervising them.
Aside from this, members of the Vigilante group in conjunction with local hunters are said to have been strategically positioned in the bush and some hot spots in the state to curb kidnapping and robbery incidents.
Our correspondent learnt that although there are cases of kidnapping and robberies in some parts of the state, corps members are hardly targeted as they move freely unlike in other parts of the core North, where corps members are at great risk.
Speaking with our correspondent, an NYSC official in Lokoja who pleaded for anonymity called on the state government to help build more hostel accommodations for the corps members at the Asaya-Kabba Orientation Camp and to deploy more military personnel to the area as the numbers of soldiers are far more less than what is expected.
The official, however, commended the state government and all security outfits in the state, saying that the state is relatively peaceful, conducive and accommodating for corps members, stressing that parents and guardians have no reason to have any fears over the safety of their children as against some states in the North.
On how the corps members are coping especially with the high cost of living, a corps member, Favour Akobundu, said that it was only the grace of God and his parents that have been sustaining him, saying that corps members are passing through dire hardship.
Akobundu who is serving at the Dangote Transport called on the Federal Government to expedite the payment of the N77,000 stipend, which was recently approved for the corps members, saying that the last stipend received was still the old rate of N33,000.
Akobundu called on the Kogi State government to increase security patrol of Lokoja metropolis, saying that at Phase 2 and Lonkogoma area where he lives, kidnappers always come in broad daylight to abduct people for ransom while robberies and stealing are common features in the state capital.
ANAMBRA
Against all odds, the NYSC is striving to serve its purpose despite challenges. But during a recent check, Sunday Sun observed the total absence of corps members in the various places they usually carry out their community development programmes on Thursdays.
At the Imeobi palace of the Obi of Onitsha, along Awka Road, Onitsha, where they usually gather, not a single soul was sighted within the premises when the reporter visited there.
Also, no corps member in uniform was also sighted on the road as this reporter was on the way to the location.
On enquiry from security operative at the Obi’s palace, Sunday Sun learnt that the corps members had not been coming for their Community Development Service (CDS) for some time.
The confusion and doubts were cleared when the reporter eventually visited the NYSC office at the Onitsha North LGA headquarters at the Onitsha GRA, and was told in plain language by an official at the office who pleaded anonymity because she didn’t have the authorization to speak, that owing to security challenges in the country and tension generated during the #EndBadGovernance protest, a directive from the national headquarters had barred corps members from engaging in CDS activities and even wearing the NYSC uniform along the road.
Our reporter was also told that corps members are also barred from talking to the media.
While our reporter observed proceedings at the office, all the corps members who came to sign their weekly/monthly returns all appeared in plain clothes without any outward sign to show them to be serving their fatherland.
A former corps member who recently passed out and now searching for job, Collins Igiebor, told our reporter that what is happening in Nigeria presently is demoralising to all rational thinking persons.
“This is the way it is in Nigeria today. It is not funny anymore in this country that people are suffering from inflicted hardship and also battling insecurity. This has affected our standard of living in this country and has also killed patriotism.
“When you see corps members who ghost their service year or even abscond from service, don’t blame them much because the person is struggling to survive,” he said.
Another serving corps member who also pleaded to be protected simply identified as Edet told our reporter that their serving in Onitsha urban doesn’t come with many challenges because they have learnt how to look out for each other.
“We were told during our orientation in camp to always look out for one another. So, we hardly go out alone in this Onitsha. We move in pairs or groups while we also live together. Most times, the church fellowships like the Catholic Corpers, the Pentecostal fellowship etc help us a great deal. Most times, we contribute money and cook together in those lodge while we share our burdens and challenges together too. We’ve only recorded pockets of incidents like tricycle robbers who sometimes dispossess some of our members of their phones. But generally, we don’t have much problem. The allowance they promised to increase for us is still being awaited, but we are ‘suffering and smiling’ like Fela sang,” he said.
A parent, Victor Ononye, in a chat with Sunday Sun said that NYSC has outlived its usefulness going by the present reality in the country.
“Many parents have lost their beloved children during their service year after all the suffering they passed through to train them in the university. Those who are posted to areas prone to violence put their parents into perpetual apprehension and anxiety all through their service year.
“I think it is the right time to allow the graduates move straight to look for what the society holds for them after their graduation instead of this one-year service period that has been beset with numerous dangers and challenges,” he suggested.
The NYSC State Coordinator in Anambra, Mrs Blessing Iruma, said the scheme has been a success story in the state because of their intentional actions in catering for the welfare of the corps members.
She said that NYSC Anambra is currently in camp with the 1,658 corps members deployed for the 2024 Batch “B” Stream II orientation course.
Sunday Sun gathered that all arrangements to cater for the corps members were put in place, to ensure that corps members were comfortable within the period of the orientation course and during their primary assignments in the places they would be posted to eventually.
She said that the Anambra NYSC is taking seriously the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) of the scheme, where corps members are trained and equipped in many programmes that can make them self-reliant, both within the service year and thereafter.
RIVERS
Members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme serving in some northern states have said that one must have a thick skin and be fearless to accept posting to that part of the country in the prevailing security challenges confronting the area.
Similarly, parents and relatives of corps members serving in the North said the recurring incidents and reports of killings and abductions put constant fear in their children serving in that part of the country.
Daniel (surname withheld), who is currently engaged in the primary assignment in a secondary school, in Kaduna State, confessed that it is not easy serving in the state because of constant security challenges.
Daniel, who hails from a community in Ikeduru Local Government Area, Imo State, studied Microbiology at the Imo State University, Owerri.
He said: “The only time we had constant security officers’ presence to look after us was during the camping days at the Orientation Camp. After that, we started living like every other individual. The secondary school where I teach is close to the capital.
Due to the economic hardship in the country, Daniel said that corps members are not finding it easy.
He said that many of them rely solely on the allowance and a few on what they are paid in the place of their primary assignment, which is still not enough.
Daniel, who would be ending his one-year compulsory service possibly in October, added that some of the corps members still fall back on their parents and relatives for support.
Similarly, Amarachi, from Imo State University, Owerri, serving in Abuja, said she augments her monthly stipends from the NYSC and PPA, with tailoring, a skill she acquired while in the university.
She said: “It’s not enough because the business needs financing. But the main thing that keeps us going is just the determination to survive.”
On the significance of the service year, Amarachi, who studied Accounting, said every parent, whose son or daughter is in the institution, looks forward to seeing his or her child wearing the NYSC uniform.
She disclosed that her parents and relatives were not happy with her posting to Abuja because of the recurring reported cases of kidnapping and killing by bandits along the Kogi, Benue and Kaduna highways.
Amarachi added that she decided to serve in Abuja because she didn’t want to bother her parents for money to process her reposting to the Southeast or South-south.
A parent, Mrs Glory Nyeche, from Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (PHALGA), Rivers State, told Sunday Sun that she prays regularly for God’s protection for her 20-year-old son serving in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Nyeche, a staff member of the Rivers State Primary Healthcare Programme said she objected to his posting, but later yielded when he encouraged her to allow him to go.
She said: “There was nothing I could do when he told me that I should not fear. He would be safe. I thank God he has few months left to end the service year.”
Also, Mr Benjamin Ononuju, from Mbaitoli Local Government Area, Imo State, but residing in Sabon Gari, Kano State, said despite the security challenges in the North, he didn’t think twice allowing his daughter to serve in the North.
Mr Ononuju disclosed that his daughter studied Mass Communication at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra. But he was surprised when his daughter, 21 years old, informed him that she was posted to Jigawa State, a neighbouring state.
He declared: “I saw her posting to Jigawa State as a divine arrangement. So, I didn’t bother because she is close to her family.”
