Thoughts on the NYSC Online fee

HOW time flies. It is seven years since I passed out of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC. As usual mixed feelings enveloped my thoughts. I wanted a career in the banking sector or civil service or in a blue-chip company.

Whichever came first was fine by me. This piece is not about jobs and what I have become today, but rather about the NYSC, its innovation and the evolution of the condition of service of corps members over time. I must confess that a lot has changed in the scheme that I wished I could turn back the hands of time.

This piece is a direct consequence of the recently introduced online registration option for prospective corps members. It is most brilliant and should be embraced by all aspiring corps members for the following reasons.

It is cost-effective; it reduces or eliminates the risk involved in travelling, sometimes long distances, just to collect call-up letters. I use myself as an example. I schooled in Kogi State University, Ayingba and I lived in Lagos. The journey from Lagos to Ayingba is close to nine hours by road. I recall I was almost involved in an accident on my way to collect my call-up letter. But that wasn’t all.

On getting to school, I was posted to Gombe State. I had to travel back to Lagos to pack my belongings and embarked on a 15-hour journey to Gombe State. But if I were a prospective corps member now, I would only have to go to a cybercafé around my neighbourhood, or log on using my laptop or smart phone, as the case may be. With my ATM card I would pay, do my registration online, and print my call-up letter, all in 30 minutes or less. If presented with these scenarios, which would you choose?

I have read editorials and opinion articles condemning the initiative. In my opinion, it smacks of mischief. I mean, if not it, what could have prompted such even when it is clearly stipulated as an optional service.

These attacks could be misleading and detrimental to the overall objective of this laudable initiative. I use a very simple example to explain again. You go to a car mart to buy a car. You are presented with same car but with two options: automatic transmission and manual transmission. Both cars perform same function. The choice would be yours to make putting certain variables into consideration. This is what the NYSC has introduced.

I think we should learn to call a spade a spade if we are serious about making a head-way in this country. In my opinion, this is an initiative that is aimed at easing the burden on prospective corps members in the build-up to their service year. I am very sure that if this initiative was introduced seven or ten years ago, those who died on their way to pick up the letters would be alive today.

Other than that, the implication of the outcry is that we should always maintain status quo even as the world is changing with technological innovations for people to lead easier and better lives. The pros clearly outweigh the cons. What is expected of parents, guardians and prospective corps members is to weigh the options available and embrace the one which is most suitable.

For example, Yomi graduated from the University of Lagos and lives in Lagos. Clearly, I expect his option would be to go to school and pick up his call-up letter because with less he can get to school and collect his call-up letter.

Aisha graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and lives in Ekiti State. I expect her option would be to use the online registration because the cost and risk of traveling from Ekiti to Zaria clearly would surpass N4, 000. It’s as simple as that.

But beyond the two examples above, I think what most people are missing is the entire package that sums up the online registration option. Normally upon resumption in camps, corps members are expected to go through registration exercise that involves filling of forms, submission of original documents for verification and sighting, and others.

Trust me, this process can be quite demanding and exhausting. But with the online option, all of those registration processes would be done online and real-time. What can be more convenient than this?

This is also mindful of the fact in the event of loss of call-up letter; it can be reprinted without the trouble of getting a police report, swearing of affidavit and submitting physically at the NYSC headquarters as the status quo demands. In as much as I commend the management of the NYSC on this laudable initiative, I would somewhat blame them for the outcry this has generated so far. I believe if there had been sufficient sensitisation programmes we would not be talking about the merits or demerits of the initiative.

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