THE National Youth Service Corps set up in May 1973 by the General Yakubu Gowon regime, as a tool for fostering national unity is floundering. This foremost institution of integration founded in the wake of a fratricidal civil war was at once a stroke of genius that has succeeded in promoting cohesion where politicians often have failed. As a change agent, the NYSC cannot on its own resolve the problems of a skewed federation but it has at least softened the animosities that could have been unleashed in a segmented Nigeria where the youth would have become hide-bound in tribal, ethnic and religious rivalries.As originally conceived, the NYSC was to be a training ground for character moulding and leadership. Participants drawn from the nations tertiary institutions were to undergo a one-year intensive programme emerging after a successful period with a discharge certificate. So important was this training that all employers of labour were required to insist on the possession of the certificate as a precondition for employment.The training was in modules, which included duty to the nation in the form of rendering valuable services in identified areas of need. Thus many youth corps members were teaching various subjects in secondary schools or working as doctors and nurses in rural areas. They were also to be found in industries where their contributions were highly valued as engineers, architects, and other occupations. Many corps members were offered employment by the companies in which they had served.But the NYSC has been suffering continuous erosion both in capacity and value. The orientation training camps provided by government for them is shocking as there is hardly any provision for accommodation, water, electricity and toilets. In those camps, men and women provide for themselves as best they can. After the orientation, the corps members are posted by deliberate policy away from their states of origin.Their situation in their host states is a mixed grill. Some secure decent accommodation whilst others have none. Worst of all they are all paid uniform low stipends not even sufficient for their feeding. Fortunately some organisations augment the stipends to enable the corps members live a tolerable existence. Yet others have absolutely no assistance at all. Clearly, in this sort of situation, it is not surprising that abuses have occurred. Some corps members do not attend the orientation programme and some have received the NYSC discharge certificate without ever showing up for the scheme.But the NYSC with all its faults is still a laudable scheme as it has fostered national unity, broken down barriers, and created new friendships and associations. The scheme has over the years allowed for the regular and effective distribution of skilled manpower. It has also promoted higher values of national unity and development, rekindled interest in neglected but vital areas of national development like agriculture, and promoted leadership qualities in our youths.A far more grievous threat to national unity has been happening in the way corps members are treated by their host communities in some parts of the country. We have heard of incidents of rape and violence against the corps members. We have seen that in all those areas with sectarian conflicts, the corps members are often victims of issues they know nothing about. Concerned Nigerian citizens have been warning about the danger posed by these attacks. Apart from vague statements of regret the authorities have not prosecuted nor punished those behind these atrocities. The governors unto whose care the youth corps members have been handed do not for the most part care about them beyond the ritual of ceremonial march past.The corps members representing the prime of our youth, living and working away from home, should have been specially protected by governors, traditional rulers and local governments. The recent general elections have shown the callousness with which corps members are treated in parts of the country. The 2011 elections in which thousands of corps members participated have been adjudged by the world as the most credible elections held in Nigeria in recent times. But instead of the commendation they deserve, dozens of youth corps members were killed, maimed or harassed in parts of the country. The situation was so bad that various states scrambled to retrieve their indigenes from the trouble spots. The Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of movement including freedom to live where one pleases. Again and again common decency and the constitution have been thrown out of the window by persons whose stock-in trade is killing, burning and looting.The failure of the authorities to enforce their own laws among the most vulnerable of our society increases impunity and might spell the death of NYSC. Many angry parents are threatening to withdraw their wards from the scheme. The Federal Government should read the riot act to the governors of all those states engaging at the slightest provocation in the slaughter of innocent persons in their midst. They should be told that such behaviour by people in their is not acceptable in modern Nigeria. As far as receiving more NYSC members to their states is concerned, they should be made to sign a bond that guarantees the safety and security of NYSC members.We sympathise with all those parents who have suffered grievous harm from the actions of incensed and insensitive mobs. Their children should not have died in a more caring society. We deplore the attempts made by some officials to deny the murders. Nevertheless, we want the NYSC to succeed but in a form acceptable to the generality of Nigerians. Before the NYSC collapses from fatigue or indifference, the Federal Government should initiate a thorough review of the scheme including sanctions for offences against corps members, physical conditions and fresh modalities for its continuation.
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