NYSC: Something isn’t right

The online registration is itself commendable, innovative, and convenient; however explanations must be provided as to why government agencies with their annual budgets of billions seem incapable of carrying out the most basic modern day administrative function of maintaining an online data base in order to serve the public better. It isn’t rocket science. Revelations […]

The online registration is itself commendable, innovative, and convenient; however explanations must be provided as to why government agencies with their annual budgets of billions seem incapable of carrying out the most basic modern day administrative function of maintaining an online data base in order to serve the public better. It isn’t rocket science. Revelations from the probe of the immigration recruitment scandal indicate a trend in which the so called “I.T. Consultants” walk away with hundreds of millions extorted from the general public without providing any appreciable service, all with government connivance.
Practically every government agency from FRSC to Immigration, Education Authorities, Police and Military appoints dubious contractors to rake in billions from “online” registrations on inefficient, sometimes non-functional and inaccessible websites. Economic and financial analysts wonder at the purpose of having a Minister of Science and Technology when government agen-cies can’t run their own computer database app-lications.  The case of the NYSC is so pathetic. Started by Military Decree in 1973 it had several purported goals none of which has been accomplished. The main goal was to promote national unity through national service.
There is no evidence that any unity – least of all national – exists today. National Service is now widely regarded as simply a buffer between graduation and immediate joblessness, a yearlong delay before entering into the serious world of mass unemployment. Considering what 40 years of NYSC amounts to in terms of the human labour placed at the Corps disposal, the practical and tangible results are negligible. Whatever arguments maybe advanced in support of the scheme the fact remains that the notoriously poor welfare arrangements, substandard uniforms and kit, inadequate financial remuneration, non-provision of accommodation, non-insurance for loss of life or injury and non-existent transport arrangements for Corps members remains scandalous.
No one has seen any annual or published report of NYSC’s operations and the program continues to meet with serious criticism by a large proportion of the population. Corps members continuously complain of late or non-payment of allowances, and are killed with appalling regularity in political, communal or religious violence. There are consistent complaints concerning the uneven distribution of “Corpers” around the country, and accusations that the States which produce the least number of graduates benefit disproportionately from allocations. If there is one benefit to the NYSC scheme it’s that sending our youth round the country exposes them to the grinding poverty in which the majority of citizens live.
However instead of motivating for them to make our nation a better society, it appears as if it’s motivation for them to actively participate in our rabid corruption to avoid becoming sidelined and are uncared for.   The House of Reps failed to explain where they expect unemployed prospective Corps members to get the money? Are they encouraging crime or expecting long suffering parents to pay? Does the NYSC no longer collect subvention? No one really knows what the program is actually doing, what it’s achieving, where it’s achieving it, and how it’s achieving it. The pattern of its leadership, its costs and how this money is spent, how many students have passed through, where they came from and their post-discharge employment status are closely guarded “official secrets”.  In an incredibly thoughtless explanation the NYSC Director of Press and Public relations said the N4,000 fee is “for the operation and provision of infrastructure facilities at NYSC Camps and its 36 Secretariats and Offices in the States and 774 local governments”.
In his warped logic because graduates have always unjustifiably borne the costs of their call up, there is nothing wrong in others doing it for profit! He further implied that the NYSC is only obliged to show consideration to graduates after they arrive in camp and become Corp Members under their care, and not before!  The absurdity of the wastefulness of the NYSC is that while the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity says over 60% of Nigerian Graduates are unemployed, the nation spends 960 Billion annually to pay for artisans from abroad!  Detractors of the scheme say it may fold up by default. Authorities reported that less than 50% of the Batch B Corps members posted to the seven States in the North agreed to retain their original postings, leading to mass redeployments. Although it’s not in anybody’s interest to put our youth in harms’ way, the issue of posting is a cardinal pillar of the scheme and mass rejections of postings deployments defeats its purpose.
These applications for redeployment are understandable since the NYSC doesn’t enforce national standards of welfare, and “Corpers” posted to Abuja, Port Harcourt or Lagos, are better off than others. The simple solution would be to ensure that Corps members only serve within their geographical zone. This would still serve the dual purpose of national service and national integration. As for the issue of payments, although the House of Reps was able to reduce the price by N500 naira per applicant this isn’t to be applauded. It’s merely an indication of the hundreds of millions the contractor was ready to forgo to keep the job! It’s definitely an indication that something isn’t right.