NYSC: To be or not to be?

THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme was established in Nigeria on May 22, 1973 by the then military regime of General Yakubu Gowon as a programme to involve Nigerian graduates in the development of their country. As a developing country, Nigeria was plagued by problems attendant with conditions of under development such as poverty, mass illiteracy, acute shortage of high skilled manpower (coupled with most uneven distribution of the skilled people that are available), woefully inadequate socioeconomic infrastructural facilities, housing, water and sewage facilities, road, healthcare services, and effective communication system.

Faced with these almost intractable problems, which were further compounded by the burden of reconstruction after the civil war, the government and people of Nigeria set for the country, fresh goals, and objectives aimed at establishing Nigeria as a united, strong and self-reliant nation; a great and dynamic economy; a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens; and also a free and democratic society.

The government and people of Nigeria were aware that sound and patriotic leadership is a precondition for the rapid social and economic development of the country. Hitherto, as a nation, Nigeria had been less fortunate in the kind of leadership that governed her

affairs in the period immediately after independence, a leadership whose achievements notwithstanding, was none the less ill-prepared and generally not properly motivated to tackle the problems of socioeconomic under-development, in the interest of the country as a whole.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the future of any country depends on the youth and this was acknowledged with the youth consistently laying claim to the nation's leadership. But while one may give credence to the saying that leaders are born, not made, one must also concede the fact that leadership in a modern society requires a certain degree of preparation and orientation before the assumption of that role.

Assessing the success of the programme so far, a one-time Director General of NYSC, Major General Hafiz Momoh (rtd.) in his preface to NYSC: Twenty Years of National Service, observed that the scheme has impacted, positively on various aspects of our

national life. According to him, the NYSC "has come to be acclaimed as one of the most effective and successful instruments in our continuing efforts at achieving a humane and egalitarian society, based on mutual understanding, trust, tolerance and a common vision of our national destiny".

So much was the perceived success in his view that he even recalls how a former Minister of Youth and Sports in the Gambia, Mrs. Aminah Faal-Sonko, told him, "that 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 organised Youth Service programme in the world." As part of its achievements and multiplier effects, the NYSC could be said to have touched all known spheres of human endeavour. Over the years, it has allowed for regular and effective distribution of skilled manpower, the steady breaking of social and cultural barriers as well as the building of friendly bridges across the nation.

It has also promoted higher values of national unity and development, rekindled interest in neglected but vital areas of national development like agriculture, and promoted leadership qualities in the youth. In these and other ways, the scheme constantly pricks the conscience of the nation to the right course of development, thereby keeping the hope alive for a better Nigeria.

The regular invitation of members of the Corps to participate in the conduct of such sensitive national assignments as Population Census, Elections, and the like and to provide material for the Technical Aid Corps (TAC), is not only an expression of faith in the ability of the scheme, but also an appreciation of its monumental achievements since its inception in 1973. The positive multiplier effects of these achievements on society are worthy of further examination, taking, for instance, the deployment of corps members. From its humble beginning of about 2,000 corps members in 1973,it has rapidly grown to the staggering annual figure of about 100,000 corps members. This phenomenal growth, apart from ensuring that the presence of the scheme is felt in all nooks and crannies of the federation, also allows for even distribution of manpower in the best interest of the country. In addition to these, other areas of benefit include the elimination of ignorance among the people, becoming a regular source of labour, leadership training and national consciousness. Others are socio-economic development, education, health and rural development.

In the face of these seemingly overwhelming success, it is noteworthy that the scheme has also not been devoid of operational problems. Since inception it has been confronted with a plethora of problems; some of which have been traced to the initial hurried birth and hasty implementation of the scheme. It is also believed that some arose out of political developments totally extraneous to the programme, while others are the inevitable products of the economic recession and the attendant review of budgetary priorities as enumerated hereunder.

This responsibility has not been effectively carried out due to the unsatisfactory Secretariat Staff/Corps members' ratio and the inadequate number of vehicles and other logistic aids available to State Secretariats. While the introduction of the zonal system and the growing utilisation of Corps liaison officers have somewhat ameliorated the situation, the problem is yet to be decisively addressed and resolved. The under-utilisation and/or non-utilisation of Corps members in their primary duty stations have been perennial. In many establishments, corps members are reduced to glorified clerks and office assistants, untrusted with the real duties for which they have been posted and therefore unable to contribute meaningfully to national development.

In other cases, the Corps members are assigned tasks, which are either far below their qualifications or are totally irrelevant to their training. The end result is that Corps members are unable to acquire the experience, which was supposed to form a main component of their service year. In addition, many of them are frustrated and unenthusiastic, forced into truancy and idleness, failing to imbibe the necessary work ethics, while one of the key objectives of the scheme accelerating socioeconomic development is left unattained.

When the scheme started in 1973, there were 12 states in the country, with only six universities and a total graduating population of less than 2,500 per academic year. The situation is vastly different today. Over the years since the inception of NYSC, the country has been divided into 36 states, plus the Federal Capital Territory. In addition, the number of accredited participating institutions has risen to about 170, thus churning out an average of 100,000 graduates on yearly basis.

This remarkable expansion has posed some very serious problems for the organisers of the NYSC, the most debilitating of which has been that its limited facilities; skills and other resources have been stretched to breaking point. The Herculean problem of organisation, coordination and management have been severally compounded by the now grievous under-funding of the scheme to the extent that many states yet lack permanent orientation camps.

It is indeed ironic that, while the scope and responsibilities of NYSC have grown tremendously since its inception, its allocation as a percentage of federal and state budgets has drastically gone down. The states have been particularly guilty in this

regard, as many of them choose to see the NYSC as a federal initiative, which the federal government must fully provide for.

It is true that many of the newer states are still battling to erect the minimum infrastructure essential for modern government, and still regard the scheme as something of a luxury which they can ill afford. But it is again ironic that it is these new states, which depend disproportionately on the manpower services of the NYSC.

The reality of the situation is that the NYSC can not continue to provide these essential services to the states, and the more intangible but no less essential benefit of fostering national unity, unless all the tiers of government are willing to bear their share of the financial responsibility for the scheme. More painful is the fact that that many Corps members now roam the streets in search of where to serve, and that many graduates of the scheme do not readily get jobs after service. Other social issues that bother our country in the aftermath of this failure is the growing insecurity and increasing poverty line. Add this to the fact that in 35 years of the scheme, 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; a further proof that the scheme has perhaps not been effective along these lines which were supposed to be its main features.

With these contending problems now taking the better of the scheme, in the process jettisoning the goals for which it was set up; and with the necessary authorities not willing to come to its rescue in terms of doing the right things, it has become absolutely heart-rending and absurd that the scheme should be allowed to continue. It is perhaps the reason the call for an abolition of the programme is rife. It is high time government heeded the call by people in some quarters for a review of the scheme with a view to determining whether it should be abolished or not.