On Thursday 13, February, 2014, the 2013/2014 Batch A Corps members held their passing out parade across Nigeria, customarily, these passing out parade are attended by State Governors and their representative, the highlight of the event is rewarding of outstanding corps members distinguished for their meritorious services at their respective places of primary assignments.
The
remark by the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brig.
Gen. Johnson Olawumi in Abuja emphasized the need to make the scheme have more
relevance and acceptable in the society.
Since
the establishment of the NYSC scheme under the decree no. 24 of 1973 in May 22,
1973, the scheme was no doubt a welcomed development, especially in promoting
mutual relationship and national ideals across states in Nigeria. Although alleged
to be a move by the then government after the Civil war for the purpose of national
integration and reconciliation, the scheme has encouraged employees across
Nigeria to have the opportunity to engage qualified graduates from other
regions of the country to contribute to their productivity.
It
is no doubt that the educational sector have gained more from the NYSC scheme
by engaging over 80 percent of the corps members across each states, academic
institutions in suburbs and remote villages where they are understaffed are privileged
to have corps members as additional teaching staffs which uplifts the standard
of education there. From my research and
experience garnered from serving in a North-Eastern state of Nigeria, most
schools in the remote areas survive through the contributions of corps members
posted to these schools as they lack teaching staffs. Also various community development
projects embarked by divers NYSC, Community Development Services (CDS) groups
go a long way to contribute to their host localities especially in the areas of
health services, sanitation, skill acquisition training and guidance counseling,
some groups go as far as facilitation of the contrition of minor roads,
drilling of bore holes and provision of free health care facilities and services
to host communities. Members of the NYSC Corps are also engaged in electoral processes
as ad hoc staffs across the country.
As
another batch of Corps members completes their mandatory one year national
service, it is worthy to note that some served under acrimonious circumstances and
working conditions and some lost their lives to religious, ethnic and political
violence, the rest move into Nigeria’s saturated Labour market, the reality
that awaits them is the fact that there are very few available jobs out there
for the numerous well qualified applicants.
According
to a World Bank statistics, youth unemployment in Nigeria is about 38 percent, but
the vivid reality in Nigeria today shows that only 20 percent would be able to
gain employment form both the Government and corporate organizations, 10 percent
become entrepreneurs and employers of labour, another 30 percent are unemployable
as a result of poor quality of education from our troubled academic institutions
bedeviled with the quandaries of underfunding, incessant strikes, cultism,
sexual harassment and poor moral values. The remaining 40 percent are left to
their providence, they end up depending on menial jobs available, and others depend
on friends and families for survival as they keep going from pillar to post in
search of a mirage-job.
After
many months and in many cases, years of unemployment among Nigeria graduates,
who are regularly victims of scam vacancies and exploitation by recruitment agencies,
they are left frustrated, in some cases laziness and lack of proper mentorship,
while others out of sheer greed, they succumb to peer and societal pressure as
they engage in despicable activities such as robbery, scamming, prostitution, kidnapping
and terrorism. Other are used as political thugs to unleash mayhem on opponents
and thwart election processes through the snatching of ballot boxes and rigging
of elections, diversion of election materials and creation of violent scenarios
to catalyse the nullification of electoral results in areas where they perceive
is unfavourably to their political godfathers. This dilemma of unemployment is
now posing as a major threat to our national security as the spate of insurgency
in the north-east, kidnapping in the south-east which has gradually crept to
the western part of Nigeria has negatively depicted Nigeria as a troubled
region and retrogressively deterring foreign investors from investing more in
our economy. This has also led the
federal government of Nigeria to increase the budgetary allocations towards the
fight against insurgency in the northern part of Nigeria and also for
maintaining of the Amnesty programme in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria which
about N63bn is been budgeted, these funds could have been channelled to capital
development across the country if the issue of fighting corruption and development
of our institutions are taken more seriously and Nigerian youths gainfully employed
and resourcefully engaged.
The
Nigerian Government should ensure that it restructures our educational system
especially the tertiary institutions and colleges, emphases should be given to
Technical Colleges, Polytechnics and Colleges of Educations, they should be revamped
and properly funded as they are major institutions established for building and
developing vocational skills as we hope to diversify our economy and become a manufacturing
country once again in the nearest future. We hope the industrial revolution
would boom in Nigeria as we patiently monitor the on-going reforms in the power
sector which is the bedrock of development in any manufacturing country all
over the world. Many industries, SMEs, would be able to employ more youths if
the issues bordering on power is dealt with by our government, the humongous
budget for fueling generators and purchase of inverters could be used to
service the salaries of more workers across the country, Manufacturers companies
would no longer to close down or relocate to other countries leaving their workers
jobless.
Youths
should also be willing to tap into the various government empowerment programmes
where they engage entrepreneurs with viable ideas and grant them loans to start
up their businesses. Recently, the Lagos State Government engaged about 100
youths in an agricultural empowerment schemes, other State Governors across
Nigeria have also taken up the responsibility to engage youths one way or the other
resourcefully. Accolades must be given to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina for championing various empowerment programmes
in the agricultural sector across the country and improving the welfare of farmers
and increasing their productivity.
The
most vital challenge to the Federal Government is the call for the diversification
of our nation’s economy from the oil and gas sector. There are potentials and a
relatively huge market in many sectors such as the Information Technology business
in which Nigeria is the biggest market for telecommunications and its
subsidiaries in Africa. The School curriculum in our academic institutions
should be upgraded to meet up to the level of technological advancements
globally. This would enable us to produce qualified graduates for each sector
of the economy who can easily gain employment or become self employed after
years of study in our schools.
As
another electioneering year draws near, we can only hope that our youths would
be positively engaged to reduce the number of youths that would be engaged and endangered
as political miscreants to some political godfathers who would want to win
elections at all cost. I wish all those
who just completed their NYSC programme good luck.
