NYSC at 50: Is the scheme still relevant?

Hearty congratulations to the National Youth Service Corps, on its golden jubilee anniversary. According to the information gleaned from the website of the corps, “the NYSC scheme was created in a bid to reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil war. The unfortunate antecedents in our national history gave impetus to the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps by decree No.24 of 22nd May 1973 which stated that the NYSC is being established “for the development of common ties among the youth of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity.”

The National Youth Service Corps year comprises four main segments in which every corps members must satisfactorily participate before he/she is qualified to be issued a certificate of national service. The service year therefore comprises: Orientation Courses, Primary Assignment, Community Development Service and Winding – Up/Passing –out. Unlike when it was initially established when graduates of universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education were mobilised for service, over the years, graduates of Colleges of Education have been exempted from the scheme while those who are university and polytechnic graduates who are above 30 years have also been exempted and are issued Certificate of Exemption after their education.

The national youth service is mandatory and dodging the clarion call can have dire consequences. Recall the controversy that surrounded a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who was alleged to have presented a fake NYSC exemption certificate. It’s fascinating to wear the green khaki and brown boots which are the traditional attire of the scheme. The preferential treatment the members of the public give to “corpers” who are considered as “government pickin” as they are called in local parlance is impressive!

Has the laudable objective of the scheme been accomplished? I should say yes. Since the NYSC started the celebration of its golden jubilee early this month, the social media have been agog with #NYSC@50 challenge where those who have served in the past proudly share pictures of their service years especially at the orientation camp. It’s funny how the “big men and women” of today were looking haggard and tiny in their NYSC uniforms. Many looked like someone from a war-torn country, lanky and unrecognisable compared to their plump and chubby look of today. In fact, many have recounted their service year experiences, their escapades and “sexcapades,” with fond nostalgia. Believe you me, not a few married couples of today met their spouses during their service years.

I did my national service in Delta State during the 1997 / ’98 service year. I reported at the Issele-Uku camp with thousands of other university and polytechnic graduates. We were altogether 1,800 or thereabout. Our director in Delta State then was Mrs. Rita Uzor-Akinlade. A very tough disciplinarian. Our camp commander was Captain Agbanusi, perhaps he is a military general now or retired from the Nigerian Army. I was a member of Orientation Broadcasting Service which is the radio arm of the NYSC camp. I was the news editor. I was later made the Editor-in-Chief of our magazine named “Corper Courier” and was able to produce two editions for the NYSC Delta.

During the three weeks’ orientation camp, aside from hunting for news, I was also a member of Platoon 13 and was in the Drama Unit. I remember we went for NYSC drama competition in Benin. I participated fully in the military drills, march past and sporting activities. I did not shy away from the endurance trek and was able to catch a lot of fun during the campfire night and generally while the orientation programmes lasted. I was posted to The Pointer newspaper owned by Delta State government for my primary assignment and worked under the features editor. I also covered the activities of the NYSC director. At the end of my service year, I got the State Honours Award which did not come as a surprise to most of my colleagues.

Among my colleagues then are Segun Owolabi formerly Business Manager, South-South of Silverbird Radio and Television in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Dr. Francis Igberase who is a senior lecturer in Economics at Mudiame University, Oladimeji Abitogun who’s based abroad and is the founder of SharpEdgeNews.com.  Others are Jide Osode, Olusegun Ogidan, Funmi Famiyesin, Folake Ojosipe Macdan, Omololu Famose and Patrick popularly known as Archbishop of St. Bottles Cathedral. How time flies! It’s been 25 years ago.

NYSC gave me the opportunity to know Nigeria better. Prior to my youth service I have not been to Delta and Anambra states. During the service year, I was a regular visitor to Onitsha Main Market, Upper Iweka and surroundings. Remember, the Niger Bridge separated Asaba from Onitsha. I also had the opportunity to traverse the length and breadth of Delta State during my service year. Places visited were Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku, Agbor, Abraka, Ughelli, Warri, Sapele, and many other towns and cities. As it was for me, so it was for millions of other people who participated in the national youth service. The travelling, experience, exposure etched indelible mark in the memory of all. NYSC also provides cheap labour for many educational institutions, especially secondary schools. This is because the majority of corps members are posted to public and private schools to teach. The professionals such as doctors, nurses, engineers and architects are sometimes lucky to be posted to places of primary assignments where their skills are desired. Invariably, many graduates’ first work experience was during the youth service.

Youth corps members are now fully engaged via a Memorandum of Understanding between the NYSC and the Independent National Electoral Commission to supply the bulk of ad-hoc staff needed for the conduct of elections. This became the norm from the 2011 general elections under former INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who also paved the way for undergraduate students of federal universities and university lecturers and vice chancellors to volunteer as poll workers.  The NYSC scheme has also expanded the curriculum to include entrepreneurial schemes which will enable corps members to be self-employed after their service years. Unlike 25 years ago when we were paid N7,500 as monthly allowance, the present crop of youth corpers receive N30,000 per month.

Interestingly, some people are calling for the scrapping of the scheme. They see it as a sheer waste of time. Insecurity has heightened this call as some of the corps members have been abducted by kidnappers during their service year. There are also complaints about the sub-optimal infrastructures in many of the orientation camps and shabby treatment of corps members by some of their employers during the service year. I am however of the considered view that these few challenges are not enough to call for the scrapping of the scheme. After all, it is said that life is a unity of opposites and there will always be challenges, trials and travails no matter the noble intent of many ideas. In case you do not know, the Gambian government has copied the scheme to replicate it in The Gambia. The issue is that considering the huge number of graduates who have to be annually mobilised for the service, the financial outlay required is high and the Federal Government alone may not be able to bear the cost.

This is why I am in support of the proposed NYSC Trust Fund so that other tiers of government, private sector and public spirited Nigerians could support in funding the scheme. I am totally in support of Jega who on Monday, May 15, 2023, at the opening ceremony of the 50th anniversary celebration of the NYSC, said that the country must either provide the resources to continue to mandate participation in the NYSC scheme or otherwise make it voluntary.