By   Chiedu Uche Okoye

After the secessionist Biafra suffered defeat in the Biafra-Nigeria civil war, Yakubu Gowon came up with this slogan, “no victor no vanquished”, so as to prove to the world that the Federalists were not seized with the feelings of triumphalism over their victory in the war. Again, the slogan was formulated or coined to help re-integrate the Igbo people, who were defeated in the Nigerian civil war, into the Nigerian society.  More so, the Gowon military administration established the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1973 for  the enthronement and deepening of our national unity. The statue, which established it , stipulates that it is obligatory for those who graduated from tertiary institutions before their attainment of the age of thirty to participate in the programme. And they should do the NYSC programme in states outside the geographical location of their home states.

It is believed that a Hausa man, who is doing his mandatory NYSC programme in Anambra state, will become acquainted with the culture of the Igbo people. Likewise, a corps member of Igbo descent, who is doing his NYSC programme in Ibadan, will discover the culture of Yoruba people.  Our acquaintance or familiarization with cultures different from ours ought to erase ethnic prejudice and bias from our minds. This is the cardinal reason for the establishment of the NYSC programme.

But has the NYSC scheme been serving the purpose for which it is created? Has it become a unifying factor in our multi-ethnic and heterogeneous country? The answer is an emphatic no. The Nigerian factor of corruption, which is a cankerworm, has been destroying the NYSC scheme. Gone are the days when people who were decked in NYSC outfits were held in high esteem. Nowadays, we cannot distinguish the genuine NYSC members from   fakers and con men. Today, well-connected and well-heeled Nigerians offer inducement to NYSC officials in order that their children will be posted to their home states or other places of their choice for their NYSC programme. That explains the reason why a young man, who has no debilitating diseases, will do his NYSC programme in his home state. But his doing that goes against the grain and stipulations of the NYSC scheme. Likewise, some who were mobilised for the programme received genuine NYSC discharge certificates, although they did not participate in the NYSC programme. The fact is that they gave NYSC officials inducements for the execution of the heist in their favour. 

However, sadly, some fresh graduates are still being posted to trouble spots in Nigeria, where their lives are put in grave danger. In the past, we read about how some NYSC members are caught in cross-fire between security personnel and terrorists. And some corps members had died in accidents while traveling between their home states and places of their primary assignment.

So, the pertinent question on the lips of millions of Nigerians is this: is the NYSC still a tool for entrenching national unity in Nigeria? In that regard, it has failed abysmally. Not only do many corps members do their NYSC programme in their home state rather than in states located outside their geopolitical zones, others will shun the programme only for them to receive authentic NYSC discharge certificates at the end of their service year. And millions of Nigerians, who participated in the programme, are still trapped in the cocoon of ethnic prejudice and bias. They still stereotype people, who belong to ethnic groups different from theirs.

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But more worrisome is the fact that thousands of diasporic Nigerians, who possess expertise in their chosen careers, are barred from holding political posts in Nigeria on grounds that they do not have NYSC discharge certificates or exemption certificates. But we have conveniently forgotten that circumstantial matters might have prevented those diasporic Nigerians from participating in the NYSC programme. Now that they own no NYSC discharge certificates or NYSC exemption certificates, they are ineligible to become political leaders in Nigeria. Is that not Nigeria’s loss? But is one’s participation in the NYSC programme an index of one’s patriotism or probity? To me, it is not a measure of one’s patriotism or probity. Although it is constitutional for those who graduated before their attainment of the age of thirty to do the programme so as to be qualified to hold political posts or work in government establishments, the federal government should offer waiver to diasporic Nigerians, who failed to do the NYSC programme owing to circumstantial matters.

However, shouldn’t the federal government scrap the NYSC scheme as it has failed to serve the purpose for which it is created? I am not unaware that scrapping it will throw thousands of Nigerians into the saturated labour market. So, I suggest that the employees of NYSC be absorbed into the federal service when the NYSC scheme is finally abolished.

The imperative of dissolving the NYSC Scheme now cannot be disputed owing to the prevailing clamour for secession in Nigeria and the insecurity of lives and property, which pervades Nigeria now. Ethnic profiling of corps members in places outside their ethnic origins can lead to their murders owing to the fragility of peace and absence of unity in Nigeria.

Again, the NYSC scheme has ceased to be the tool for the unification of the people(s) of Nigeria because of its bastardization by corrupt NYSC officials and well-heeled parents.

Okoye writes from Uruowulu-Obosi Anambra State