Ogunfowoke: The NYSC N4000 to serve your nation

WHAT happens when the government abdicates its responsibilities? Private Citizens with lethal influence will gladly woo or entice government officials with juicy proposal and depending on how grounded their network is, their proposal may either be espoused or thrashed. This is probably why the claw-marks left by a number of government policies easily fade out just because the government wants to favour high ranking private citizens. Perhaps, this is also one of the reasons why the government is privatising nearly all its public corporations.

The sale of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to the various distribution companies has barely improved the electricity status of Nigeria. Consequently, the burden of retrieving the money expended by the discos in buying PHCN is being borne by consumers. Presently, the consumers are grumbling about the ‘crazy bills’ they are made to pay by the discos despite the epileptic power being supplied. An investigation into the ownership of these discos will arguably throw more light on the faces behind them. It will not be a shocking revelation if they are connected to powerful and influential politicians.

This is probably similar to the levy currently imposed on online registration for prospective corps members who want to serve their nation. The rationale behind the N4,000 is incomprehensible because the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is compulsory for graduates that fall within the acceptable age range to serve; therefore, the government should possess the capability to bankroll the scheme without asking for a dime from any prospective corps members. As a throwback, this registration fee has again raised eyebrows about the relevance of the NYSC considering the current social and economic demands of Nigerians and Nigeria.

Traveling down history, when General Yakubu Gowon conceived the NYSC idea on May, 22, 1973, it was “With a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and promotion of national unity.” The scheme was introduced as an antibiotic to heal the lacerations of the Biafran civil war between 1967 and 1970 and to fast-track reconstruction, reconciliation and rebuild the country after the war.

Also, Unity Schools (Federal Government Secondary Colleges) were established and federal character was introduced. The unity schools and the NYSC were set up to ensure students and corps members learn about other cultures, values and belief system while the federal character arrived to guarantee that no ethnic group is marginalised or dominated when it comes to federal appointments and employments. The 1973 Decree was repealed and Decree 51 of June 16, 1993 was promulgated with superficial addition and subtraction made to replace it. The new decree appears to be a replica of the 1973 Decree with minute changes. This didn’t end the chastisement of the scheme by many Nigerians and social commentators. The 21st century demands of Nigerians far outweigh the content of the decree especially with the dire state of affairs in the country. Predictably, the usual will happen again where moribund laws are still applied to govern our polity even though time has rendered some of the laws null and void.

Pertaining to the relevance of NYSC, the security situation in various parts of the country has led to desperate outcries from parents to urge the management of the scheme to stop sending their wards to security fragile states. But the calls and agitation have fallen on blind eyes and deaf ears. Aside from security, other factors like poor infrastructure, lack of financial incentives and other additional welfare measures are absent. These are the attractive carrots that can be dangled at corps members to encourage them to voluntarily accept their postings. However, it is an issue of On Your Own (OYO) immediately you exit the three weeks camp. It begs the questions why the NYSC still has the effrontery to charge N4,000 on each prospective corps member?

Let us do a bit of mathematics by multiplying 4000 by an estimated number of prospective corps members (50,000) across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the sum total of a mouthwatering of over N200 million will be gained. What purpose will the money serve? If there is a third party (Sidmach Technology Nigeria Limited) contractor involved, ‘they’ will have probably agreed on the percentage that will be accrued to each party involved in the contract. It is preposterous and outrageous that financial rewards are favoured ahead of upping the ante of the scheme that has been in the intensive care unit since 1973 awaiting the correct medical doctor and prescription. Furthermore, the scheme has been described as a one-year waste of precious time that should be used for other purposes. This may probably be traced to the fact that many are in a limbo after receiving N19,000 for a year and they are afterwards poured into the labour market profiting little or nothing from the scheme.

As expected, the NYSC has defended its online registration idea, stating that it will reduce the stress involved in the collection of call-up letters. They argued that the charge is appropriate because they are concerned about the safety of the prospective corps members. They don’t want corps members to travel long distance before receiving their call-up letters. According to the Director of Corps Mobilization, Mr. Anthony Ani, the N4,000 is ‘optional for people who still want to travel long distances to schools where they graduated to get their call-up letters.”

Unfortunately, there are loopholes with this position or excuse tendered by the NYSC management. Why can’t they make it free for every corps member so that all of them can benefit? Since it is a government idea for it to adopt an online system, why can’t the logistics be borne by the government? Why can’t the collection of call-up letters be the decision of prospective corps members? If NYSC is truly concerned about safety of corps members, why should they monetize the online registration? So many questions only the NYSC hierarchy can answer.

No doubt, this is an awesome idea because almost everything in the contemporary world is been computerized and Nigeria and her parastatals cannot be an exemption. Importantly, the scheme should thoroughly ensure that online registration is optional, so that no uninterested corps member is cajoled or victimised if they reject or refuse to do the online registration. This is because Nigeria is a nation where we talk without acting. We have the best policy documents but our shortcoming is in the area of implementation. Therefore, the NYSC must critically consider proximity before implementing the online registration. Thus, those that are close to their schools should be excluded from the N4,000 payment while others that are interested in the online registration and their schools are remote should be allowed to decide if they are interested in the online registration. But, if this is done with sincerity, it should be free for every corps member.

Like other unpopular government policies, the NYSC online registration fee has come to stay unless Nigerians continuously speak out against it nonstop. We must stop accepting government policies hook, line and sinker because it will adversely affect us sooner or later. In the United Kingdom, Scotland was allowed to conduct a referendum to decide whether it still wants to be part of the UK union and the citizens voted yes. This is true democracy. Nigeria should begin to adopt this model of using referendum so that those in government understand what the citizens truly want rather than making shallow assumptions. The NYSC scheme has contributed immensely to the development and acquisition of unique and lifetime cultural and social experiences by corps members deployed in various parts of the country. Nigeria is an extensive and expansive country; there is so much to learn about the way of life of the people. However, with the good performance scorecard of the scheme, there is still no doubt that it is unable to meet the demands of current times, therefore many have submitted that it should either be scrapped or reviewed. Significantly, reprieve will not come the way of the NYSC with the introduction of this N4,000 fee as the pressure from Nigerians for it to be dissolved will simply intensify. In fact, it has further dug its own grave and sooner or later, it will be unceremoniously buried if it does not heed the call of Nigerians for thorough and holistic review!

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