The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme is a Federal Government scheme established during the military regime of Gen Yakubu Gowon on May 22, 1973 to encourage development and unity in the country. It is mandatory as a Nigerian graduate to go through the NYSC programme as long as such graduates are under the age of 30.
The program is established to promote unity among Nigerians but today I will have to question the importance of the program as corps members are either killed or kidnapped because of the insecurity in the country. A lot of them are scared of going to some parts of the country, especially the northern part because their safety isn’t guaranteed.
I advise the government to either scrap the NYSC program or reform it. For instance, government can exclude some parts of the country badly affected by insecurity so that corpers will not be posted there.
As the government prepares for the 2023 general elections, there should be proper planning for the protection of corps members who would be working in various parts of the country during the elections to forestall loss of lives as they may be exposed to challenges of activities of political touts, ballot boxes snatching, violence and disruption of the election process. This is at a great cost to corps members, parents and the Nigerian society.
We cannot compare the 1970s to this present day, a lot of things have changed. Our older generation enjoyed the benefits of the NYSC program unlike our present generation where there seems to be no point in being part of the program because they do not want to face an unlucky fate that other corps members have faced. The government should pay attention to this issue.
Ifeoluwa Deborah Alade
aladeifeoluwa2@gmail.com.
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