• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Corps members will not fight any war for us

NYSC

Brig. Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), made a wrong headline with his defence against the scrapping of the NYSC programme. Without a doubt, his intention is different from the intended meaning conveyed by his message. However, just like Malami’s statement on the Spare part traders and the Herdsmen, leaders have responsibility for their statements. They must be careful from making illogical statements in a tense atmosphere like Nigeria.

No matter how zealous Ibrahim’s intention to defend NYSC, his choice of the war at this time is brutal and not well thought off. There are many areas of national use for the corps members than war, and I wonder if any one of the corps members will fight for Nigeria given that Nigeria is already at war with her youths for ages.

Let us critically remember Ebenezer Ayotunde Gbenjo and Kehinde Jelil Adeniji from Gbongan town in Osun state. They were gruesomely murdered while serving as INEC support officers in Borno state. The day their corpse was transferred and buried in Gbongan town remains the most horrific day in the history of Gbongan town. Two corp members met in Giade Local Government Area of Borno State, became friends, having realised a common ground. They both came from poor homes in a little town in Osun state. Bringing people from all parts of Nigeria together in unity is the objective of the NYSC. But killing them together while serving their nation was disastrous and called for the review of the scheme’s relevance in present-day Nigeria.

The utterance of then Borno state governor and his defence of being hurt when serving in the west and that of the other notable leaders, including a presidential aspiration, was not a consolation for the bereaved families and their associates. Nigeria has witnessed gruesome killings of traders, innocent people, and recklessness from a part that believes and behaves as if it was a license for violence. The recent attack in Ibarapa reiterated the evil days, and the thought of change in violent tactics is no more than a mirage. Where the majority are not educated, violence and banditry are the results.

Will any corp member fight war for Nigeria? I doubt it as Nigeria is already at war with her youths with the rising rate of unemployment, unequal opportunities based on ethnic and religious sentiments, incessant killings of their family members, the kidnapping of their siblings, and much more, is the promise of change that worsened the situation they hope will change for the better.

For the youth, the same sunshine that melts the butter hardens the clay. They have seen many promises failed and the politicians are but the same evil genius. They are not seeing the beautiful one that will unite them and going to the NYSC camp is a matter of national coercion and a one-year survival programme.

If you doubt the preceding paragraph, make the NYSC scheme voluntary. Make it legal for employers of labour to employ graduates without showing NYSC certificates. Or better still, remove the monthly stipend given for one year (the unifying Allawi) and see who will voluntarily send his or her son to any part of the country to serve. During the deployment and doing months of the youth corps members’ service to the nation, the fear parents have is nothing compared to a life lived in fear of taxes and debts.

Will any corp member fight war for Nigeria according to the Oga at the top?

Our leaders at the national level should utilise the resources around them before making statements devoid of logic, and that pitched Nigerians against themselves. They have advisers who are paid with our resources. Hence, they should share views and debate a progressive position before speaking to the media. The Bridger will be sure his words are misunderstood, but he should not exhibit fear as there is no consequence for making such a statement in Nigeria except the social media crucifixion.

The story will soon die down, and it is not as severe as that of the minister of justice or those made by our past leaders, including the so-called founding fathers. There were no records of conviction for the killers of the corp members in the previous elections and those killed in the numerous religious riots nor by the bandits. Impunity is thriving, and Ibrahim’s statement on the NYSC war is not that material.

If there are to be wars to utilise the national defence line, will a youth corp member fight for Nigeria? As I was writing this, I asked one of the past corp members already prepared, and his answer was capital No. Fight for which Nigeria he asked. His answer is understandable, and we should, therefore, rethink the NYSC scheme.

Is the scheme uniting young Nigerians? What is the level of inter-ethnic collaboration or national cohesion seen from the scheme?

Nigerians are more divided than ever, and the youth who are the leaders of tomorrow are ethnic enemies on social media. They would rather fight to leave the country than against any external aggression in the first instance. They would prefer to defend the ethnic origin on a secondary basis. Viewing them as Nigeria’s war assets is an assumption without a logical foundational basis.

The task for the NYSC leadership is beyond the defence of the scheme. Someone must critically assess the relevance and impacts of the scheme in this current dispensation and come up with a better way of uniting our youth. The current NYSC scheme is belated and needs to be restructured in the interest of all Nigerians.

Therefore, I call for the forgiveness of the DG and let him in repentance come out with the initiative to keep the youth corps members safe while serving the nation. There is a need for a new and cohesive explanation from his team on why the NYSC is still relevant beyond being a national defence line. Other concerned stakeholders, including the parents whose children’s lives, are being risked in the name of national service, must be involved in reviving the NYSC and give confidence that the scheme is genuinely uniting Nigerians and not just a belated national ego-centric project.

Babs Olugbemi FCCA, the Chief Vision Officer at Mentoras Leadership Limited and Founder, Positive Growth Africa. He can be reached on [email protected] or on Twitter @Successbabs