Only Those Who Have Not Participated in NYSC Scheme Are Clamouring For Its Scrapping – NYSC BOSS

he National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) rolled out the drums to celebrate its 50th-anniversary last month. It would be recalled that the scheme was established in 1973 by the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon as a means of fostering national unity, cultural integration, and harmonious coexistence among Nigerians from diverse religious or ethnic configurations 

The Beagle News team comprising Managing Editor, Victor Udu and News Editor, Edem Ita had an exclusive interview with the Cross River State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mr. Zemoh Andrew, to appraise the achievements of the novel concept, innovations, challenges, and prospects. It was an interesting session.

Excerpts…

You have been in Cross River for two years as the State as NYSC Coordinator, what has been your experience so far?

So far, so good, we have corps members doing due diligence in their places of primary assignment here in Cross River State. In the nooks and crannies of the State, you will find corps members contributing to the development of society. 

NYSC just celebrated its 50th anniversary. What do you make of that milestone?

NYSC was 50 years on the 22nd of May. We have come a long way. It is a product that has come to stay, especially for national unity. If not for the NYSC scheme, people from the southwest would not want to come over here. Today, people from different geopolitical zones have been made to come here, courtesy of the NYSC. Some of them have ended up settling down here after their one-year compulsory service. Examples abound; Dr. Abubakar Buge is married here and has his clinic here in Cross River. Others got married during their service year, engendering national integration and unity. Of course, that is what NYSC has stood for in the past fifty years. Although there have been calls for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme, it is worthy of note that the benefits of the scheme greatly supersede its deficiencies and whatever reasons are deduced by antagonists of the scheme. 

The NYSC brings together Nigerian youths from different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds to be taught one thing - discipline. From there, they imbibe all the values of NYSC, geared towards selfless service to their fatherland. And I strongly believe that in these regards, NYSC has achieved tremendously. It is one of the entities that promoting the unity of our country to date.

Would you say the objectives for creating NYSC have been achieved?

Yes. National integration, cohesion, and unity have remained the hallmarks of NYSC. Additionally, the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Programme has infused the component of skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development for Nigerian youths under the NYSC. So many corps members, apart from the discharge certificate they get at the end of the scheme, also go back having learned one or more skills. It breeds self-reliance. Today, most of them are entrepreneurs and employers of labor. Currently, we have two corps members who are into poultry feed production in commercial quantities in Akpabuyo. They learned it during their time at the orientation camp. They have settled down in Cross River. A lot of similar stories abound in different places in the State.

What reforms do you think should be introduced to address deficiencies in the scheme?

The reforms we are hoping to see include the NYSC trust fund, which unfortunately could not be signed into law by the outgone administration. Once the NYSC trust fund comes into force, our decaying infrastructure and other facilities in different NYSC camps and offices would be revamped. Reconstruction and rehabilitation of camps would be done with ease. We need to better the environment for corps members. Where you should ideally find three corps members per room, you have over ten of them. We must make our camping environment conducive to both the staff and corps members. We must ensure that there are basic amenities and adequate security. When you have all these, there would be no reason for relocation by corps members. Relocation should be only on health or marital grounds, not insecurity. I served here in Obubra, Cross River State, in 1992. By then the issues bothering the country today were non-existent. After my service, I stayed back here for a while. The relationship we forged with even the locals is still up to date. That bond has continued.

Today, NYSC has gone digital. No more carrying call-up letters to schools. Everything from printing call-up letters to relocation is done in the comfort of an internet-enabled phone or computer set. You don't need to travel to your zonal office to do so anymore.

Expound further on integration, looking at the insecurity challenges bedeviling the country. What steps should be taken to address this heinous issue?

The mobilization policy of the NYSC still stands. Potential corps members are to be sent to a geopolitical zone different from theirs. Though the door for relocation is open, pending other terms and conditions. Any attempt to change the mobilization policy, the whole essence of the scheme would be defeated. Going to a different geopolitical zone on NYSC, allows one to study the peculiarities and similarities between one culture, tradition, norms, religion, and ethnic group, and another.

Some orientation camps are equipped with modern facilities; and upgraded by respective state governments. What are you doing to get the Cross River Government to upgrade the Obubra NYSC camp?

Yes. So many state coordinators have tried to contact the state government about such an upgrade. During my time, which would be two years in a month’s time, we had a new borehole as an intervention of the State Government, which came at the twilight of the immediate past administration. Just like I said earlier, if we have the NYSC trust fund, we would not wait for the state government to intervene. NYSC is a three-pronged system. The federal government mobilizes the corps members; the corps trains them, while the states absorb them to render services at various institutions. Renovation of NYSC camps and state offices is the main responsibility of the State Government. We are liaising with the present administration of Senator Bassey Otu to see that the Obubra camp is given a facelift, because the facilities, especially the hostels are in shambles. We are working round the clock to draw the attention of the Government to the sorry state of the camp.

Some Nigerian graduates, they say, are unemployable. What can the NYSC do to polish them?

The NYSC cannot polish them. You spend four years in the University and spend one year under the NYSC, not even in the class to teach you; I doubt if there is anything we can do to change what you could not improve upon while in the University. Unfortunately, the NYSC has been on the receiving end of graduates' incompetence. Ours is discipline. We have a way of managing such deficient corps members. When we discover such deficiencies, we send them to areas where they can render services other than maybe teaching or intellectually challenging assignments.

Under skills acquisition, what are the vocations on offer to corps members?

We have ICT, agro-allied, education foundation, tailoring, construction, confectionery, event management, graphic design, beautification, solar power, aluminum framing, carpentry, etc. These are businesses that are daily consumption-based. Both boys and girls can learn them. After the ten days of intensive training, competition, and exhibition for the various vocations cap the event. As corps members are posted out, they are attached to service guides, where they continue to hone their craftsmanship in a chosen vocation. 

Looking critically at the SAED Programme, where would you say the youth's strength lies?

Their strength lies in the impact created from camp, through their service year, and unto life generally. We receive an avalanche of requests from schools, seeking for posting of corps members to assist with tutoring their students. The services of corps members have been invaluable, especially in rural areas. That is why as a matter of policy, we send them to the rural areas to contribute their quota to the development of schools in those areas. Some rise to becoming principals of such schools. We also have doctors, nurses, and other paramedics manning health facilities in the local areas. We send them to areas where their services are needed the most. And they are doing very well. 

Of recent, we are activating our farms. We would send corps members who studied agriculture, animal husbandry, and agronomy to take care of such farms. At the management level, we have gone far to begin the production of agricultural products and their value chains add value to the scheme. The NYSC has bakeries, water, and poultry farms, with their products in markets all over the country. We have skills acquisition centers in all geopolitical zones. In the South-South we have it in Delta State. The idea is to train corps members to in turn train members of their host communities at a minimal amount. That is why there is a SAED center here equipped with sewing machines, where the host Community can also learn to become self-reliant. In all the geopolitical zones, we have them offering different vocational expertise. 

What about the weaknesses besetting the scheme?

 Our major weakness has been insecurity, which is not under the purview of NYSC. It is beyond us. Once an environment is safe, no corps member would want to relocate. Because of insecurity, parents and guardians mount pressure on their children/wards to relocate to safer places. Extorting has also been another threat. Not just from within, but even on the internet and social media. For instance, you see "instant relocation from Lagos to Abuja" on Facebook. We have had cases where gullible corps members had fallen prey to the antics of scammers. I'm glad to inform you that the Department of State Security (DSS) has been up and doing, daily trying to checkmate some of these criminal tendencies. NYSC services are free of charge. From deployment to relocation, everything is free. But we have a few bad eggs who that extort corps members in the name of assisting them. Those are some of the weaknesses bedeviling the scheme. But by and large, the scheme has stood the test of time and has assisted in the development of Nigeria.

What is your message to those calling for the abolition of the scheme?

My message to them is that we would be preaching peace every day. Because without peace, there would be no meaningful progress. I call on parents to allow their children to go out and experience different cultures, and social lives through the NYSC as security continues to get better.