Members of 2012 Batch B National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving
in Nasarawa on Wednesday protested the non-payment of their one
year allowances by the state. The corps members, who converged on the Keffi-Abuja road carrying
leaves and placards barricaded and obstructed traffic for so many
hours. It took the intervention of the Nasarawa State Commissioner for
Education, Mr Hussaini Abubakar, who addressed them to bring the
situation under control. The Commissioner, who ordered that the allowances be paid
immediately said he would not leave the scene until the last person
was paid. “The payment of their allowances will commence immediately even if
it will take us to 1:00pm. “I will not move an inch from here, not to talk of leaving you until
everybody receives his/her allowances," he said. He said the state governor, Alhaji Umaru Al-Makura, had approved
over N100 million for the payment of the allowances, and that the
government should not be blamed for what happened. He said the delay was due to the late submission of the list of names
of the corps members to the ministry by the NYSC officials. The Commissioner also blamed the activities of some unpatriotic
citizens who collaborated to cause confusion. Abubakar warned those involved in causing the problems to desist
from such acts or be ready to face the wrath of the law. He said that government would not hesitate to punish anyone found
culpable noting that their selfish act had caused embarrassment for the
state. The protesting corps members told newsmen that they were being
owed 12 months allowances. `We were told to come for the allowances on Monday and Tuesday
which we did, but the authority refused to pay us. Deborah Ibrahim and Peter Obochi, who spoke to newsmen on behalf
of other corps members, said that for some time corps members in the
state had to protest before they got paid. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 2012 Batch A corps
members that served in the state also protested and blocked Lafia-
Akwanga road on Feb. 14, 2013 over unpaid allowances.