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NYSC: 48 YEARS OF LOYAL AND DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE NATION

Published

4 years ago

May 22, 2021

The National Youth Service Corps was established by Decree No.24 of 22nd May 1973, now an Act of the Parliament, quoted as NYSC CAP N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The Scheme year in, year out pulls together graduate Nigerian youths who are 30 years of age and below, with the objective of developing common ties among them, for the promotion of national unity and development.

Beyond that, the Scheme equally aims at instilling in Nigerian youths, a tradition of Industry; the spirit of patriotism, loyalty, discipline and self – reliance which is a gateway to financial freedom.

The Corps has continued to champion this cause, among others, employing four cardinal programmes namely : Orientation course; Primary Assignment; Community Development Service; Winding-up/Passing-out as the platforms to achieve the objective.

A critical assessment of the Scheme after 48 years indicates that it has remained a pivot of national unity and development; and has left indelible imprints in the proverbial sands of time, particularly in the spheres of Health, Education, Infrastructural development and Advocacies.

It is a truism that in most States of the Federation, primary and secondary school system is sustained by Corps Members, so much so that if their services are withdrawn, there will be system collapse.

Corps Members are found in the remotest parts of the villages, where even the natives dread to go, thus, imparting knowledge, catering to the health needs of the people, among so many other contributions.

There is no gainsaying the fact that in most rural communities, the only doctors the members have ever seen are Corps doctors, who function as chief medical director, and in most instances multi-task.

The community development projects of Corps Members ranging from civil construction works such as water borehole, well, bridges, culvert, classroom block to intangible projects such as free extra-mural lessons, campaigns against drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, dangerous driving among others have continued to deepen the relevance of the Scheme, making it a household name in Nigeria.

Talking about national integration, so many inter – tribal marriages have been contracted over the years, thereby building bonds and pulling down the walls of ethnic suspicions and stereotypes. Conversely, bridges of unity and lasting friendships have been erected.

The participation of Corps Members in the nation’s electoral process conveys some measure of legitimacy to the outcomes, given the fact that Corps Members always approach the national assignment with a great degree of patriotism and discipline.

The Scheme in 48 yesrs has continued to make direct positive impact on the lives of Corps Members, changing their orientation which is usually utopian while in school. It is a known fact that some cultists perpetually discard their membership of the clandestine group after life – changing encounter in the Orientation camp, which has discipline as its bedrock. Every NYSC Orientation Camp is strictly regimented.

Interestingly, in 2012, the Scheme introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme, ( SAED) with a department dedicated to coordinate the activities. The skill programme starts during Orientation course, with in-camp training, progressing to post-camp training, after the Orientation course.

It goes without saying that SAED is one of the greatest initiatives of the Scheme that has continued to raise a crop of entrepreneurs over the years. The Scheme has not only provided them with the requisite platform to acquire or hone their skills, but equally links them with financial institutions such as Bank of Industry ( BOI) that grant credit facilities to them.

Consequently, so many ex-Corps Members today are entrepreneurs, running profitable businesses, mentoring and employing thousands of Nigerians.

However, just like every other organisation, the Corps has its challenges, most of which are extraneous to it. Many other challenges revolve around funds. Be that as it may, I give kudos to the Federal Government for shouldering the responsibility of funding the Scheme since inception, which has not been easy in view of other national needs competing for the scarce resources.

Nonetheless, there appears a silver lining. Recently, the NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, who in two years of his administration has taken the Scheme a notch higher advocated the establishment of National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund NYSCTF). The scheme is expected to be funded should from a certain percentage of the assessable profits of companies registered in Nigeria, just like TETFUND. Doubtlessly, the trust fund will address the infrastructural deficits of the Scheme — the Orientation camps; skill centres, among others.

The fund should provide credit facilities or grants tto willing and qualified Corps Members who have acquired skills to establish their businesses.

Indeed, in 48 years, it can safely be posited that the Scheme is on course, having been fulfilling its mandate. It has been 48 years of loyal and dedicated service to the nation.

Emeka–Rems Mgbemena is an Abuja based public affairs analyst and writes via: remsony@yahoo.com

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ELECTING A POPE: THE BURDEN OF MAKING CHOICES

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2025

The Gleamer

By Olubunmi Mayaki

“Habemus papam!” which in the English Language means, “We have a Pope.” was pronounced by Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, a French Catholic prelate, His Eminence, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti from the iconic loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City on Thursday 8 May 2025 after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Those Latin words proclaimed to a tensed global audience the result of the election of a new Supreme Pontiff after the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis) on 21 April 2025 at the age of 88 years.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Robert Prevost (Pope Leo XIV) emerged as primus inter pares (first among equals) from the cardinals after undergoing detailed election rituals, which have been the process of selecting the head of the 2000-year-old Catholic Church for centuries.

A papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected, was held consisting of one hundred and thirty-three (133) College of Cardinals, drawn from different parts of the world converged at St. Peter’s Basilica for a public mass before heading to the Sistine Chapel to cast their votes to elect the 267th Pope. During the mass, part of the choir renditions reminded voters to remember their last day when they would stand before God in judgment to render their stewardship on earth, which is to prevent them from rigging the voting process. At the behest of the senior cardinal deacon, voting formalities were read to the electors, which included- oath-taking- “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom I believe should be elected according to God”. Other processes are banning phones, jamming calls, forbidding speaking or contacting any of the candidates, voting rounds, spiritual pauses etc.

Looking at the voting process, one should be curious about how an election to pick a leader for a religious body could be so systematic and attract such global attention. It is a sharp contrast to elections where political leaders are chosen. Even in the so-called advanced democracies, we have seen electoral flaws and a dearth of political leaders. States are finding it difficult to pick genuine statesmen, giving rise to hegemonic leaders. These political imperia ums are emerging and stoking crises in their domain. Fallouts of elections are no longer favourable due to unpopular candidates forced on citizens.

Africa, as a case study, shows that no matter the rules put in place by the continent’s leaders, our election processes have been fraught with rigging, corruption and waste. In most cases, the leaders who set the rules are the violators of the same process. Governments conspire with electoral bodies to truncate election processes at will. Such political brigandage has destroyed the progress of the continent.

Closing this view, I hope that African leaders will take a cue from the Catholic Church’s election process to reinvigorate and rejig the continent’s faltering political process for the good of its people. Better still; political scholars from the continent can study the Catholic model. The common features of elections in most parts of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, are riddled with vote rigging, violence, human rights abuse, repression, barbarism, crises, untold hardship, and sometimes, outright war. This is the bane of Africa’s development.

The burden of making good political choices should ordinarily rest on citizens. However, politicians have hijacked this process for selfish reasons. It has given birth to bad leaders. If we fail to get it right, what we see is what we get. That is the story of the world politics!

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