The posting crisis currently rocking the National Youth Service Corps has once again cast some doubt on the continued relevance of the scheme. Instead of serving as the melting pot of Nigerian youths, breaking down the barriers of culture and tribe, the scheme is fast becoming the graveyard of many youths, along with their dreams and aspirations.Although the registration of corps members participating in the Batch C of the scheme took place in other parts of the country on November 15 and 16, postings to Borno and Yobe states have been put on hold indefinitely. The indefinite postponement, according to an NYSC statement, is for security reasons. The two states have, in recent times, become notorious for violent Islamic fundamentalism, spearheaded by the dreaded Boko Haram group. Both states witnessed some deadly bombings recently that claimed more than 100 lives.But, aside from the NYSC taking the bold and reasonable step of stopping the posting of corps members to the affected states, some other members posted to adjoining states of Bauchi and Gombe have also decidedly rejected such postings, citing fear for the safety of their lives. Many of the prospective corps members reportedly massed outside the NYSC headquarters in Abuja last week, demanding redeployment to safer places. One of such corps members, a lady, was quoted as saying, I am only 22; I dont (want) to die in the hands of people who dont value life, while her male counterpart, also speaking in the same vein, said, I did not earn a degree to be hacked down by individuals who dont value life.It is however doubtful if the current happenings in the NYSC were ever envisaged when the scheme was decreed into existence in 1973, barely three years after the civil war. According to the NYSC Decree No. 24 of 1973, which was repealed and replaced by Decree 51 of 1993, the scheme was established, among other things, to support the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity. Aside from sending fresh university, polytechnic and college of education graduates to serve in states other than their states of origin, youth corps members were also encouraged to marry from other ethnic groups as a way of forging inter-ethnic relations.Sadly, however, these noble ideals enunciated as the first set of corps members were being mobilised during the Gen. Yakubu Gowon administration (196675) have since gone to the dogs. NYSC members posted to some states in the North have become targets of vicious and murderous attacks by some political thugs and religious fundamentalists. During the last general election, no fewer than 11 NYSC members were among over 600 Nigerians brutally hacked down in a bloody post-election violence that swept through the Northern states. While 10 of them were killed in Bauchi, one was incinerated in the flames that consumed his apartment in Funtua, Katsina State.The then Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State Command, Amana Abakasanga, was quoted as saying at a point during the violent uprising that 27 out of the 51 NYSC members in some parts of the state could not be accounted for. After their residencewith their personal belongings, including their certificateswas razed to the ground, corps members that survived the attack in Daura, Katsina State, were reportedly escorted by armed guards to safety in Katsina, after taking refuge for three nights at the Daura Police Station.In 2009, a female youth corps member, Grace Ushang, was also brutally killed by some yet-to-be identified youths in Maiduguri, Borno State, for allegedly wearing a pair of trousers, the stipulated mode of dressing for the scheme. She was reportedly put to the sword after she had been gang-raped. Ushangs case preceded the gruesome murder of three youth corps members in Plateau State the previous year. Ibikunle Akinlogbin, his cousin, Leke Akande, and Bisi Akinjogbin were hacked down in cold blood and the killers in both cases are yet to be brought to book.In the post-election massacre, the inability of the government to protect the young Nigerians on national duty was evident. This has led to many parents and guardians questioning any posting that would send their children and wards to parts of the country where their safety would not be guaranteed. Even state governments such as Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Osun, Rivers, Kwara, Abia and Enugu that went to great lengths to charter flights and buses to evacuate corps members from the burning states are also all for the safety of their citizens lives.The NYSC scheme may have helped to thaw the frosty relations of the post-civil war era, but whatever gains may have been recorded then are being wiped out now. The NYSC authorities should be more circumspect about sending people to certain parts of the country. Corps members should henceforth be allowed to serve in states of their choice or the scheme is cancelled outright.
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