Femi Ojumu

As the name demonstrably suggests the NYSC was established to foster a sense of national unity, common purpose and service to the Nigerian State. The driver for the NYSC’s establishment in 1973, was of course the aftermath of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war 1967-1970 in which over a million lives were lost, and the need by the Yakubu Gowon military regime to engender a sense of national identity amongst youths.

For graduates, the NYSC was and remains a condition precedent for accessing the Nigerian white-collar labour market. Crudely put, to work as a civil servant, lawyer, engineer, doctor, accountant, banker engineer, lecturer, pharmacist etc NYSC is non-negotiable.  In reality, it has also meant the Yoruba/Hausa/Igbo/ Urhobo/Itshekiri (and other ethnic groups) graduates serving their fatherland outside their own states of origin. As a consequence, there has been the interaction with other cultures and, crucially, education in the wider sense about the Nigerian entity amongst NYSC graduates to date.

But all this needs to be put in proper perspective and John F Kennedy’s famous aphorism rings true: “ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for you country”. The NYSC today runs counter to this central philosophy as enunciated by JFK. Rather than it being what Nigerians can do for Nigeria, the NYSC is now what “ Nigeria can do to Nigerians”. This of course is demeaning and patronising to say the least.

These are the arguments. First, a Northern Nigerian does not need to physically “serve” in Southern Nigeria or vice-versa to truly be able to demonstrate what he or she can contribute meaningfully in service to his country. For example, it is possible to set up a legitimate internet service offering a market like Amazon or EBay from a room in Onitsha accessible by people in Ibadan, Kontagora, Zaria or indeed Johannesburg. This is service to the nation and, by extension, to the world.

Second, the NYSC was established in the aftermath of the civil war as a reconciliatory attempt by ruling military dictatorship to actualise the claims they made at the time of “no victor no vanquished”. Nigeria is not in a state of war, the aftermath of a war, neither is the country in a military dictatorship. And besides, if Nigeria were (heaven forbid!) to engage in warfare with a belligerent state, exactly what use would NYSC graduates be in a military sense, given they have never received any military training (unlike the Israeli model)? Therefore, the original premise for the NYSC ceases to exist.

Third, Nigerians interact freely with one another: at parties; through inter-marriages; on okada; on public transport; in the market place; in the classroom - primary, secondary and tertiary levels; at work; in churches, mosques and alternative places of worship or non-worship etc. The notion that graduates need an NYSC “to be done” to Nigerian graduates is today an absurdity.

Fourth, a Nigerian graduate with a top class degree can be head-hunted by a multi-national or indeed an international organisation e.g. the UN, IMF, ILO, WHO and others without the strictures of the NYSC. Does this mean that graduate is not contributing to Nigeria even though we live in a fast moving, dynamic and inter-connected world underpinned by globalisation? As I write, we have WHO doctors helping with the cholera pandemic in Zimbabwe some whom could in fact be Nigerians. Nigerians in diaspora send millions of dollars and medication to their parents, relatives, hospitals, charities regularly supplanting international aid receipts according to the World Bank and other sources. There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that all of these Nigerians necessarily went through the NYSC programme. And even so, this is universally acknowledged to constitute practical humanitarian service to Nigeria.

Fifth, the socio-economic and political factors informing the creation of the NYSC have changed fundamentally. Under-employment is rife across the country, a peripatetic power base severely hampers the country’s manufacturing capacity and corruption is endemic in public and commercial sectors -itself informing the creation of the EFCC. Substantive anecdotal evidence indicates that several thousand people are owed salaries in the public and commercial sectors. Against, this backdrop, graduates should be allowed to find legitimate employment as soon as possible and not be constrained by a moribund NYSC programme which has outlived its usefulness.

Finally, and the most important reason is the recent cold-blooded murder of Messrs Olalekan Akande, Oluwatosin Akinjogbin and Oluwole Odusote in the recent Jos riots. These young men were having the NYSC “done to them” by the Nigerian state and died through no fault of their own.

It is a real struggle for the average Nigerian parent to educate his child from primary to tertiary institutions. Equally, it is an added and an unnecessary burden for those parents (a number of whom are pensioners) to have to fund expensive trips to far flung places in Nigeria in the name of the NYSC where their children’s safety cannot be guaranteed. The Government’s inability to guarantee the safety of the youth corpers and indeed all those who perished in the Jos riots is poignant as the first duty of any government is the security of its citizens.

For these and the aforementioned reasons, the NYSC programme should be scrapped forthwith.

Femi Ojumu is a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and holds a Master of Business Administration from Kingston University in England. 13 December 2008 ©

Robot  # 1 | 13.12.2008 23:34

The laudable objectives informing the creation of the NYSC in 1973 by the Gowon regime,have ceased to be relevant in 2008. Ergo, the programme ought to scrapped now....Read the full article.

Igboamaeze  # 2 | 14.12.2008 00:51

I think that the NYSC has since lost its relevance. As at today, the NYSC is in my view, a waste of public funds and of people's time. Like most things Nigerian they'll never scrap it because several Emirs rely on NYSC for survival. A lot of military officers dream of the day they'll head NYSC and loot their turn. Young graduates dream of the day NYSC will send them to Abuja or Sokoto to prostitute and make money. It is all so Nigerian...

omoboi  # 3 | 14.12.2008 06:18

=Robot;299979>...Finally, and the most important reason is the recent cold-blooded murder of Messrs Olalekan Akande, Oluwatosin Akinjogbin and Oluwole Odusote in the recent Jos riots. These young men were having the NYSC “done to them” by the Nigerian state and died through no fault of their own. It is a real struggle for the average Nigerian parent to educate his child from primary to tertiary institutions. Equally, it is an added and an unnecessary burden for those parents (a number of whom are pensioners) to have to fund expensive trips to far flung places in Nigeria in the name of the NYSC where their children’s safety cannot be guaranteed. The Government’s inability to guarantee the safety of the youth corpers and indeed all those who perished in the Jos riots is poignant as the first duty of any government is the security of its citizens. based on the highlighted and several senseless, malice ridden killings of corps members in recent past having also in mind the many dangers they are exposed to criss-crossing the lenght and breadth of the country, i would instead support the call for the scheme to be reviewed not scrapped. it is sad that an otherwise laudable scheme like the NYSC that has successfullly in time past stimulated national cohesion and forged many fruitful relationships has been reduced to this level where nobody is enthused about it anymore. The scheme i would suggest is due for review and immediately too and if the mandatory part of it cannot be substituted with voluntary, than all graduates should be herded to thier various states of origin or geo political area to serve thier fatherland. I remember in one of my lonely and wistful days as a youth corper in one obscure village somewhere in the middle belt writing this N.Y.S.C Be ready to serve your fatherland When called with a letter in hand Be ready to face the rigors of drilling When you are summoned; when unwilling Be ready to endure forest of thorns With the unsavory tunes of beagle horns Be ready to cry and shout for change In a place rusty, lonely and strange Be ready to mingle and make new friends Play ludo, draught, ayo most weekends Be ready to be forced into dusty classroom Even as you fume, even as loneliness loom Be ready to learn and speak the local language Keep your sophistication and pay homage Be ready for challenges and new barriers And receive local ‘allawee’ months in arrears Be ready to learn other people’s ways And be prepared to do so for 365 days Be ready for the clarion call Whether married, single or small Be ready for ‘almighty’ NYSC And pray fervently for God’s mercy

Dewdrops  # 4 | 14.12.2008 09:30

=Igboamaeze;299996>I think that the NYSC has since lost its relevance. As at today, the NYSC is in my view, a waste of public funds and of people's time. Like most things Nigerian they'll never scrap it because several Emirs rely on NYSC for survival. A lot of military officers dream of the day they'll head NYSC and loot their turn. Young graduates dream of the day NYSC will send them to Abuja or Sokoto to prostitute and make money. It is all so Nigerian... I guess you can serve your fatherland in many ways.:D That NYSC is a waste of time for real......I don't think anyone in this planet could disagree. The NYSC programme ceased to be meaningful like 30 years ago....like most concepts in Nigeria that started off with the laudable goals and directives. What a shame.

Prince Charles  # 5 | 14.12.2008 12:05

And to think that a young man who went to Secondary school and university abroad will after his graduation be asked to run back to go for the NYSC in Nigeria else he cannot work in nigeria or become elected is a huge joke. NYSC shouldnt be mandatory at all, be made to serve a country that didnt give you free education, or support, not to talk to learning aid or college grants. Is Crazy.

Danmeka  # 6 | 14.12.2008 12:57

Nice article Mr Ojumu, The NYSC is a good programme especially to promote social development and national unity.One of the pioneer of these great programme is late Chief Olu Fadiaro(MON),frontline media administrator, youth leader and one-time General Manager of Daily Times.He distinguished himself not only in his career in the media which spanned over four decades but also in his renowned contributions to youth development which earned him legion of honours.Fadairo, after the civil war initiated a youth programme at the Mobolaji Johnson Sport Centre as part of effort of government to re-unite the various part of the country. In 1972, he presided over a conference of Voluntary and Professional Youth Workers in Kaduna, a forum where the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was recommended and approved by the Federal Government to promote unity among the youth in the country.He believed that the military intervention in the nation's polity has wiped out the laudable programmes of citizenship and leadership training. So Mr Ojumu, the problem is implementation but where you have a government that cannot provide security throughout the whole of the state's territory;a government and society is not characterized by the rule of law but by corruption, mis-management,nepotism and narrow mind thinking (e.g. Where people brought to justice whenever there such riots such as Sheikh Gumi of the Maitasine riots and et al);a government does not/cannot provide social services to its citizens and finally a government that unable to facilitate economic development through its lack of real authority and legitimacy is a failed state.

Albany  # 7 | 14.12.2008 12:58

NYSC, in my humble opinion, was at inception a laudable scheme and it is still relevant in 2008. However, corruption, which has infested every facet of the Nigerian society, did not spare it. I have every reason to believe that the writer of this article was simply reacting to the untimely death of the 3 corps members in Jos and he probably (and rightly so) concluded that they would still have been alive, if not for the NYSC Scheme. I hereby convey my heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased. However, i believe that scrapping the Scheme would be tantamount to throwing away the baby and the bath water. Now consider the following: <*>Most Nigerian graduates still roam about the streets many years after graduation in search of jobs. The 'allawee' (monthly stipend), which the corps members get from the government and their places of primary assignment, serves as a 'lifebuoy', at least, for the first year after graduation. I tell you for free, graduates from poor homes even look forward to the service year, when they can earn their first 'salary'. <*>All the over 400 victims of the Jos violence were not corps members. Some businessmen, lawyers, doctors, engineers etc from other parts of the country, who were apparently living in Jos or just came to Jos for one business or the other equally lost their lives. So, one could still have been caught up in the mayhem without being a corps member, if that was one's fate. <*>Even in developed countries like the U.S. and Germany, there exist various forms of NYSC, some are mandatory, some are not. In Ghana, for example, you serve your country twice; first after your secondary education (for 6 months) and after your university education (for 1 year). The NYSC was not necessarily all about reconciliation after the civil war, though it might have precipitated its formation. <*>It is silly to argue that indigent parents, who have paid at least 20000 Naira every semester for at least 4 years while their children were in the university, cannot afford 2 or 3000 Naira transport fare for the same child to travel to whichever part of the country they have been posted to serve. Again, NYSC reimburses the same fare on arrival at the orientation camp. It is called the 'Bicycle Allowance'. I know a lot of Nigerians who have little interaction with other Nigerians from other geo-political zones of the country. They attend schools and later on take up jobs (if they don't travel abroad) after graduation in the geo-political zones of their birth. Now, how would they break those stereotypes we all grew up with about other ethnic and religious groups, if they did not have a first hand interaction with people from other regions ? It is not enough to say that people meet in churches and market places. I would rather suggest that the NYSC scheme be reviewed and restructured, just like almost every other service in Nigeria, so as to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I doubt if it has ever been reviewed since its inception in 1972.

Law Mefor  # 8 | 14.12.2008 15:47

Few days ago, I received a text message similar to this and forwarded by friend; it reads: “Dear Parents, the recent Jos crisis claimed the lives of several NYSC embers including our 28yr-old nephew. He was butchered in cold blood along with 2 other corpers in their house for no reason. No parent ever should go through such sorrow. Please join the campaign for the abrogation of NYSC. Enough is enough. Do not wait until your child is wasted. Send this message to 5 other parents. God bless you as you do. Professor Segun Osinowo UNAAB.” Now, this. I sincerely believe the NYSC needs to be refocused, not scrapped. The death of the three innocent corpers in Jos is all so unfortunate but this still could have happened if (these) Nigerians have anything doing in Jos or other parts of Nigeria, when crisis blow open. If this is a strong possibility, then, what should preoccupy Nigerians is arresting the drift that makes (Jos) crisis a recurring decimal in virtually in all parts of Nigeria, including the Southwest. Besides, several other Nigerians of non-plateau origin also died, paying the supreme price for the Project Nigeria. I share the pains of the author, but we have to leave the NYSC out it. Even if we are now saying Nigeria is not worth dying for, how safe are our areas from ethno-religious crisis for us and other Nigerians? So, the problem is not the NYSC but in a political system and skewed federalism that isn’t working…

aguabata  # 9 | 14.12.2008 16:32

in my primary six, transitional term was introduced, i lost one year, later on 6334 system was introduced, i spent 6 years in college instead of 5, I lost one year, i graduated in 2000, No NYSC for our batch, we went to camp in 2001, spent another 1 year in NYSC, I've lost a total of 4years of my career by senseless unsuccessful policies in Nigeria.

Ewuro  # 10 | 14.12.2008 16:45

=Albany;300088>NYSC, in my humble opinion, was at inception a laudable scheme and it is still relevant in 2008. However, corruption, which has infested every facet of the Nigerian society, did not spare it. I have every reason to believe that the writer of this article was simply reacting to the untimely death of the 3 corps members in Jos and he probably (and rightly so) concluded that they would still have been alive, if not for the NYSC Scheme. I hereby convey my heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased. However, i believe that scrapping the Scheme would be tantamount to throwing away the baby and the bath water. Now consider the following: <*>Most Nigerian graduates still roam about the streets many years after graduation in search of jobs. The 'allawee' (monthly stipend), which the corps members get from the government and their places of primary assignment, serves as a 'lifebuoy', at least, for the first year after graduation. I tell you for free, graduates from poor homes even look forward to the service year, when they can earn their first 'salary'. <*>All the over 400 victims of the Jos violence were not corps members. Some businessmen, lawyers, doctors, engineers etc from other parts of the country, who were apparently living in Jos or just came to Jos for one business or the other equally lost their lives. So, one could still have been caught up in the mayhem without being a corps member, if that was one's fate. <*>Even in developed countries like the U.S. and Germany, there exist various forms of NYSC, some are mandatory, some are not. In Ghana, for example, you serve your country twice; first after your secondary education (for 6 months) and after your university education (for 1 year). The NYSC was not necessarily all about reconciliation after the civil war, though it might have precipitated its formation. <*>It is silly to argue that indigent parents, who have paid at least 20000 Naira every semester for at least 4 years while their children were in the university, cannot afford 2 or 3000 Naira transport fare for the same child to travel to whichever part of the country they have been posted to serve. Again, NYSC reimburses the same fare on arrival at the orientation camp. It is called the 'Bicycle Allowance'. I know a lot of Nigerians who have little interaction with other Nigerians from other geo-political zones of the country. They attend schools and later on take up jobs (if they don't travel abroad) after graduation in the geo-political zones of their birth. Now, how would they break those stereotypes we all grew up with about other ethnic and religious groups, if they did not have a first hand interaction with people from other regions ? It is not enough to say that people meet in churches and market places. I would rather suggest that the NYSC scheme be reviewed and restructured, just like almost every other service in Nigeria, so as to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I doubt if it has ever been reviewed since its inception in 1972. NYSC was designed to provide cheap graduate labour to the North. After 36 years, the North should have their own graduates by now. If you ask those who did the service in the 70s and very realy 80s maybe there was something to it. Though many corpers from influential parents did their service in their choice of states. Dimeji bankole, current leader of the House of representatives served his secondary appointment in his father's company. Many states from the North do not offer permanent employment to corpers because they always have another set of corpers, cheap labour, to replace them. You do not need the NYSC for social integration. What you need is creation of job opprtunities in evey nook and crannies as well as security. The social unrest were innocent southerners are slaughtered by Northerners portends a danger not only to the NYSC but job mobility to the North. Southerners are simply not safe in the North. NYSC is an avenue for more corruption because, the managers of the programmes can never come up with the accurate number of corpers each year. When a I served, an NYSC official, level 4 clerical officer, had four cars, and in those days they were bought brand new. If a figure comes up that 4000 corpers are allocated to a state, know that only abour 3000 corpers are physically serving. The wages of the rest 1000 goes to the pockets of the officials. This corruption is bigger when you add contract for uniforms, boots, food and accomodation. Except for those who do not want change for progress, I see no reason why we should continue to sustain a project that does not serve the purpose, constitutes an avenue for more corruption and has posed seious danger to the lives of the southern youths. Femi, your article is very apt.

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