AS ANOTHER BATCH OF CORPS MEMBERS PASSES OUT!

  

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.