MMANUEL ONWUBIKO
First, his road to the office of the Director General was rough and inundated with bureaucratic tumbles going by the challenge erected by the senate of the federal republic of Nigeria which felt that the announcement of the Director General was to be made by the President and not by the chief of army staff going by the fact that extant enabling law made it so.
So it took like a couple of days before the National Assembly smoothen the road for the office of Director General Of NYSC to be occupied by the newly appointed Boss just as the National Assembly affirmed that indeed there was no irregularity in the appointment of Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim whose appointment by the President was conveyed to him as disclosed in a media statement authorized by the Chief of Army staff Lieuten- ant General Yusuf Tukur Buratai.
Incidentally, the new head of NYSC is said to be a product of the education corp of the Nigerian Army and until his appointment was holding a prominent academic position in the nation’s military institution.
The statement appropriately disclosed that President Buhari approved the appointment of the pioneer Registrar of Nigerian Army University Biu, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim as the new Director General Nation- al Youths Service Corps (NYSC).
Brigadier-General Shuaibu Ibrahim re- placed Major General Suleiman Kazaure who was on the saddle since April 18, 2016 as the NYSC Boss. From available records, he was born on July 13, 1967, just as Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, a graduate of University of Jos has attended Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) Young Officers’ Course 1994, Infantry (INF) Young Officers Course 1996, Training Development Advisers Course (TDA) 2004 and NAEC Officers’ Executive Management Course 5/2013.
He obtained Doctorate Degree (PhD) in History from the University of Abuja in 2007. His research area is reportedly centered on Economic and Military History as well as Intergroup Relations.
Some of the previous positions he held in the military included Research Officer, Institute of Army Education (IAE); Military Assistant to the Director General of NYSC 1996-1999; Staff Officer Military History, National Defence College (NDC) 2004–2009; Senior Instructor, Nigerian Army School of Education 2009–2011; Staff Officer I Books Resources Procurement, Headquarters Nigerian Army Education Corps 2011–2012; Commandant Command Secondary School Sule-ja 2012-2014; Head of Department, History and War Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy Nigerian Defence Academy 2014-2018.
General Ibrahim is a Professional member of Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN), Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (MTRCN), Exam Ethics Marshal International (An Exam Ethics Marshal), Editorial Board member, Ibom Journal of History, University of Uyo, former Editor-in- Chief, Journal of History and Military Studies, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
He has authored publications, chapters in reputable academic journals. From the above, it can be stated that the new boss of NYSC has come well prepared.
Realizing that this latest position is that of a National call to duty to meticulously implement enduring policies and carry out ennobling projects that will become enviable legacies that will outlive him, the newly appointed helmsman of NYSC has set out to do his job with vigor just as the charismatic sound bites from him since assuming office may be pointing towards what the nation should be expecting from his tenure in office. He sounds more like an activist Director General than a person who will be comfortable operating in the business-as-usual laissez faire approach to duty as many would. He is seen as someone who would prioritize the welfare of corpers and that of the staff.
He began by throwing strong warnings to the tertiary institutions that contributes scholars to participate in the national youth service by highlighting the fact that some of these institutions have sent unqualified candidates to partake in the scheme. It must be stated that our tertiary institutions do not operate in the same wave length like how Universities in Germany do.
“One way of training for your future occupations in Germany is by pursuing a dual vocational training programme. Such programmes offer plenty of opportunity for the On-the-job training and work experience. Programmes usually last between two and three years and comprise theoretical as well as practical elements”, (www.make-it-in-germany.com). Little wonder that Brig Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, warned tertiary institutions in the country against enrolling unqualified graduates in the scheme.
The DG said the NYSC would blacklist any higher institution found to be involved in fraudulent mobilization of unqualified graduates in order to serve as a deterrent to others.
The timing for this strong warning is relevant because NYSC is preparing to mobilize its Batch B prospective corps members by this June amid reports from the Ministry of Finance that the monthly allowance paid to the members had been increased to N 30, 000, which is also the new minimum wage.
He said: “Corpsproducing institutions are warned not to enroll unqualified graduates into the mobilization process of the scheme. I advise all of you, participants, not to fall into the temptation of unscrupulous elements that may want to truncate the mobilization process. The NYSC will blacklist any corps – producing institution that is involved in fraudulent mobilization of unqualified graduates in order to serve as a deterrent to others. As leaders, do the right thing. Let us maintain good integrity and check your data correctly. ”
In another breathe, he verbally demonstrated his will power to be a charismatic leader by even pledging to make the supreme sacrifice should the need arise. Brig. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, said he is ready to sacrifice his life to ensure that no corps member dies during the service year.
Ibrahim said this during a visit to the staff and corps members at the NYSC Zonal Office in Akure, Ondo State. Ibrahim urged the corps members to take the opportunity of the entrepreneurial programmes put in place by the scheme rather than embarking on frivolous travels.
“I will prefer to die than losing a corps member. Keep yourself abreast of what is happening in your country, and make a difference as a corps member. “I want to rejig our skills acquisition programme. If you take it seriously, we have partners that are ready to lend you money. I am very passionate about the scheme and my corps members. “I came for a youth programme; so, I decided to visit you my ‘children.’ The newly appointed boss of NYSC has come at a time of great distress witnessed by millions of Nigerian youth who are bombarded by the twin social evils of youth unemployment and the growing rate of suicide.
His leadership of NYSC is therefore expected to think outside the normal official routine but to endeavor to embark on meaningful ventures such as intensifying the ongoing en- trepreneurial and vocational skills training of the participants and by so doing the rate of selfemployment would rise even as the rapid rate of suicide by the youth would be brought down dramatically.
A United States-based Brooking institution had recently in a well-researched paper raised alarm on youth unemployment in Nigeria. This coincided with the sudden upsurge in suicide by youngsters in Nigeria. The Brookings report says: “…Deficient school curricula and poor teacher training have contributed to the fail- ure of educational institutions to provide their students the appropriate skills to make them employable”,(www.brookings.edu).
Onwubiko heads Human Rights Writers As- sociation of Nigeria (HURIWA)