Tuesday 6 November 2012

To New Corpers,Welcome To NYSC Of Corruption, Orientation And Bead-Making – By Ademola Adeeko

 


First and foremost, I would love to congratulate all incoming NYSC corps members. Let it be known that in as much as it is in order to felicitate with you for achieving the feat of graduating from college, I am not congratulating you because you are going to join the throng of graduates used as cheap labor. I congratulate you for the fact that you have moved on to another phase in your life. I am not being cynical neither am I promoting apathy towards the government but at least the truth has to be told by the very few like me who will stop at nothing to expose evil. As most of us know that the NYSC programme has since lost its relevance, coupled with the fact that it is one of the easiest ways to punch a big hole in the budget allocated to the Federal Ministry of Youths Development, it also gulps 80% of the budget of this particular government parastatal. The programme has since outlived its purpose. Cases of recent killings and the spate of insecurity all over the country support this. It is obvious that the NYSC has failed in that area. Why then do we continue to live in denial? For how long shall we shut our eyes to the obvious and plunge ourselves into self-induced oblivion? The more we try to integrate the people of Nigeria using the NYSC programme, the more those in power feed the ignorant ones with tales filled with ethnic bigotry. It is the same people who play the harmonious tunes of unity that still go behind to beat the drums of war. Who is fooling who?
To me basically, the NYSC programme is a very effective way of keeping the graduates off the streets for just a year, armed with nothing but their half-baked education and survival instincts without provision for subsequent years from the government. Apart from the NYSC, what other initiative has the Nigerian government embarked on to enable and ensure continuity of all what was learnt during the mandatory three weeks orientation exercise? Nothing. Isn’t it now safe to say that ever since the introduction of NYSC during the military era, no other president could fashion a way out of unemployment? So, it’s more like after the one year programme you are going back to the same streets you had avoided. Problem solved? No. It is only left for the graduates to find a way out of the so many problems facing them and ‘make it’ either by legit or illegal means.
I wonder why the massive corruption in that parastatal hasn’t been probed or should I say the house of representatives’ members still have their hands filled with probes of other government parastatals which have amounted to nothing?. Or shall we say their hands are probably still soiled with the wealth they have amassed from recent probes?
The ever continuing delay in payment of corps members as and when due doesn’t seem like a problem that needs to be addressed by those at the helm of affairs. The former Minister for Youths Development, Mallam Abolaji Abdullah when confronted over non-payment of corpers’ monthly allowances on time some months ago, initially denied knowledge of such development. When the pressure for proper answers became persistent and unbearable, the story changed and he claimed his administration was devising a new payment method that will enable faster and safer payment of corpers and also block the loopholes that allowed the perpetration of corrupt practices by members of the NYSC staff. Alas, months after that, we are still burdened with the same problems he claimed to have stopped; hence, the continuation of the grab-as-you-can corruption cycle. As a first hand witness of the enormous fraud and corruption with impunity peddled within the so-called NYSC, I have learnt a lot and I am still learning more of what the future holds for the educated Nigerian youth. From the camp coordinators to the platoon officers and departmental officers in charge of welfare of the corps members, it is fraud all the way. They feed fat on money meant for the upkeep of the camp, they embezzle funds meant to equip the hostels and also provide welfare to the corps members. Even after the orientation, the thieving party still continues. The NYSC is now a loop-hole for siphoning funds. The infuriating part is that those that are the masterminds of the rot will be the same set of people to preach to you on how to be a good, law-abiding and corruption-free citizen of Nigeria. Awkward, isn’t it?
I have never been so perturbed in my life until I witnessed scenarios where staff members of NYSC extort money from corps members to guarantee them certain favors against the rules and regulations of the NYSC which they are meant to uphold. Although, it is not a strange practice in Nigeria but where is your conscience in all these when you orientate youths on how to be good and law-abiding citizens only for you to be found wanting in the areas you have advised them against?
Most times, when I remember the scores of rhetoric I listened to during the orientation lectures on camp, I shake my head in shame. I am not a conformist and never will I be. I cannot keep quiet in the face of injustice and fraud. You cannot put me in a camp for three weeks trying to brainwash me all under the guise of orientation. I am not a fool, knowing fully the deeds of those in power. You cannot ask me to be a law-abiding citizen when the leaders are the ones breaking the laws heavily without regard for even common sense. You cannot tell me about how effective the EFCC has been when I can actually list their corrupt practices.
The worst part of the orientation lecture is the skill acquisition programme. A programme setup to address the issue of unemployment and also admonish the youths on ways to empower themselves into becoming entrepreneurs/self-employed by arming them with skills that can yield income. But it’s such a shame that the NYSC provides a very ridiculous opportunity where university graduates are subjected to learning how to weave bags with twines, baking of snacks and small chops and some other ridiculous petty jobs that are not meant for university graduates. Is that how much graduates are worth? Is that the best the government can do for us? Is this how bad it has gotten? Are those the only skills that can empower youths and alleviate poverty? Batch in batch out, same skill acquisition programmes are forced down the throats of university graduates in their large numbers. Is this how dormant and backward our leaders have become? Are there no more elevating skills to be acquired other than bag-weaving? It is so funny how much we applaud mediocrity in this country and that is due to our level of exposure. We applaud them for the crumbs they feed us instead of demanding for a better standard of living. Can they now include truck driving into the skill acquisition/entrepreneur empowerment programmes in NYSC as Dangote has begun recruiting university graduates as truck drivers.
I’m not of the opinion that NYSC be scrapped neither be re-branded but rather be restructured to meet the demands of modern day unemployment. Why do we have the ministry of youths development when nobody can devise new ways of tackling problems facing the youths both educated and uneducated.
If those at the helm of affairs of NYSC cannot come up with solutions that will bring relevance back to the programme, then I see no reason why they should occupy those offices and earn fat salaries and allowances. Time has changed!
This writer is on Twitter as @OccupyNaija

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