|
An Open Letter to the Director-General of the NYSC By David Nkpe The national
youth service corps (NYSC) was set up as one of the attempts at
reorienting Nigerians to the basis of appreciating the cultures other
than those to which they have been socialized. You will recall that the
NYSC was started by the Gowon administration after the civil war was
lost and won to bring about unity. The programme over the years have
both achieved and failed to achieve the objectives for which it was set
up. This work does not intend to chop into the failures of the programme
but address the mushy, non logical development in the secretariat of the
NYSC in recent times. It is
pertinent to start by recalling that at inception various segments of
the Nigerian youths were accommodated in the scheme viz: university
grandaunts, their polytechnics and monotechnic counterparts as well as
those of the colleges of education. Sadly, majority of Nigerian youths
specifically those who graduates from the colleges of education were
schemed out of the national service programme. The implication of this
exclusion is that most youths are denied the opportunity to interact
with their counterparts from other parts of the country. Who knows, this
may be responsible for the seeming melancholic mode of most teachers in
the secondary and primary schools towards cultural issues which they
instill into school children at their rather formative stages in life.
After all, majority of these teachers who hold the national certificate
on education (NCE) never had the opportunity of learning the culture of
others practically as the NYSC programme seeks to afford youths the
opportunity to do so aside serving the nation. Recent
information making rounds across our campuses is that the secretariat of
NYSC plans to use the JAMB admission letter as the basis for admitting
prospective corps members into camp for the orientation. This release is
an error of our times, of a truth, one thinks it is essentially the
mistaken notion that any day, anytime any one can sit in the comfort of
his or her office and day dream and then attempt to test- run such
fantasies on the people. If not, what
can be said of this plan which most of us think is ill motivated,
malicious and uncalled for. My argument is anchored on the logic that,
if you cannot go for service because you cannot produce the JAMB
admission letter when most undergraduates get into the university
through Remedial programme, is there any logic behind this plan? It is
germane to note that well over 30% of graduates from the universities
year in year out gets admission through remedial programme that is
accredited by the national universities commission (NUC). So also about
70% of polytechnics and monotechnic graduates are absorbed after
completing the national diploma. Suffice it to note that some of these
students start from pre- ND programme. The million Naira question this
plan by the NYSC to admit only prospective corps members who can produce
JAMB admission letter to camp pose is what happens to the rest? As I was
going to argue earlier, if one cannot go for service because one came
into the university through remedial programme then one day , sooner
than later one’s degree will be declared inferior. This would create
unnecessary scuffles for the educational system which is battling with
meeting the Quota for science and technical education in the country.
This policy will abuse the purpose of the NYSC scheme in no small
measure if implemented. Consequently, one would like to suggest that if
this is not a fight for JAMB domination of the admission process then it
would be better to abolish the NYSC scheme rather than unnecessarily
bothering youths with the evil of discrimination even on issues of
service to the nation. In
conclusion, I fervently wish to appeal to policy makers as a whole and
those that deals with the youths to always think, consult and weigh the
impact of their initiatives before they act. This will save the nation
from formulating and implementing make-shift policies and programmes
that are noted to have dealt a heavy blow on the people over the years.
For the new NYSC circular, detailed explanation is urgently called for,
or better still, it should be withdrawn immediately. JURBE
JOSEPH M. SUG
PRESIDENT |