NYSC: Service or Servitude – The Mockery of a Nation[/b]
Kazeem Orosunmi

Nationalism is the spirit of having one’s nation at heart. But the Nigerian context is quite different as most Nigerians do not possess a heart for the nation. It is apposite that the citizens of a nation would gladly render services unto their nation not because of individualistic gains but common gain.

To render service is most deserving of wages, or some sort of gain that serves as a compensation for the energy expended to the benefit of another. The Nigerian situation has left a repugnant feeling to the many that have been made to go under the ropes of the mandatory one year service to the nation. The appalling truth is that many have been rendered slaves. Many organisations have used this medium to exploit the youths who are the driving force of the economy of any nation to their advantage. Most corps members have been reduced to errand personnel. Examples are: the use of corps members in washing the restrooms in the organisation of their employ, engaging them in cutting grass and several other bizarre jobs. The deliberate engagements of these youths to services by organisations that reward them with wages not commensurate with efforts that have been employed to their services have shown just how bad the Nigerian system is. The justification of the many organisations that subscribe to the engagement of these youths during the course of their service year to the nation is that many of these youths are not of employable standard, more or less half-baked graduates from tertiary institutions. But to whom is the blame to be ascribed– the youths or the nation?

A little diagnosis would reveal that the Nigerian government has deliberately refused to tackle this ugly trend that runs through successive governments ever since the establishment of the NYSC programme by the then head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon in 1973.

Above notwithstanding, one must honestly confess that the central aim of the programme which is driven towards uniting the country has achieved some measure of success; however its current state has left some doubts in the mind of many as to the continued relevance of the programme, and it is no surprise that many are calling for the scheme to be scrapped out as it has outlived its purpose especially owing to the impoverishment it has inflicted on many, and the unnecessary deaths of many Nigerian youths in the name of national service.

Besides, the health insurance provided for corps members by the government is no insurance at all. Neither is accommodation provided for. To be fair, some organisations do provide for those in their employ while others are left to source for themselves, yet the NYSC programme keeps on running on the false premise of uniting the nation.

Rendering of service to one’s nation is the apogee of patriotism which deserves commensurate recognition from the nation which is the primary beneficiary. Unfortunately, the Nigerian nation has crowned the efforts of her youths with nothing but derision. Stringent measures are not put in place for those demanding the services of these corps members, rather the youths are let out as though they are been granted some privilege to work. How can it be that higher institution graduates are employed to do menial jobs and are reduced to underdogs by employers who treat them as slaves and feed them on crumbs? Many have been stripped of their dignity and their psyche is damaged as a result of the degrading work and treatment given to them by the organisations that engage their services.
Nigeria is at the centre of a drama on the international stage, and has played well the character of a clown by presenting itself as nothing but a joke to other nations. No serious nation toys with her citizens the way Nigeria does. The incidental truth is that the citizens have also decided to embark on the trip of image stripping and debasing of their nation. Of course, we should acknowledge that the suffering and psychological trauma of the Nigerian youths did not start with the introduction of the NYSC scheme; much has been the untold strains of hardship faced by the citizenry. There is no longer any need to give it a thought; the myriad problems the nation inflicts on its citizens is almost considered a natural phenomenon. The traumatic experience of the service year has left many in undignified conditions. While it is a truism that the service year accords a few the opportunity to have a foretaste of working experience in their fields and has afforded them the space to bud the inert knowledge acquired from school, it has nonetheless failed to deter the continuous exploitation of serving youths by unregulated employers. Productivity is browbeaten when [basic] facilities are not provided.

The importance of labour welfare cannot be further underscored when one sees the continuous agitation of the labour unions in their quest for increment of minimum wage by the Federal Government. The persistent agitation for salary and other fringe benefits reviews could be largely attributed to the disproportionate structure between the salary of political office holders and the general Public Service.
NYSC is not a formal contractual agreement between an employee and employer; rather it is a contract that was entered into by virtue of being a citizen of the country and consequent upon being a graduate from a tertiary institution. It is more or less a natural contract, in some way like the Hobessian social contract. For the best part, the service being rendered during the course of the one year mandatory service is not offered directly to the government, rather individuals who have established organisations and are in demand of extra labour force; but in this case cheap labour force or slaves. The contribution of these youths to their place of primary assignment in some way contributes to the well-being of the nation, when considered holistically.

It could be that the NYSC scheme is premised on the contract of apprenticeship, and as Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law defines, it is an agreement under which a person binds himself to serve and learn for a definite time from a master who on his side covenants to teach his trade or calling to the apprenticeship. It is held that learning, rather than serving is the hallmark of a contract of apprenticeship and indeed, marks it off from employment proper. Be that as it may, has the service year truly improved the lives of the many that has undergone it? Conversely, could we truly say that it has fulfilled its raison d’être which is to serve as a mechanism to unify the nation considering how increasingly polarised the nation has become?

The posting of corps members to institutions appears to be done almost at random, and this goes to show how the NYSC scheme has fast nosedived over the years from becoming a recognized platform for breeding a prospective and effective labour force in the nation to being mere dependent citizens awaiting windfalls from the government table. This is most exemplified when corps members are been posted to institutions that have no bearing whatsoever on a person’s discipline. The end result is manifestly seen in that productivity along their lines will not be fostered. Consequently, how do we expect growth as a nation when resources are not been channelled in the rightful direction. It is a well-established fact that the greatest recipient of corps members are educational institutions yet the Nigerian educational system is still operating at low ebb. In what way then is the nation cultivating the youths to hold reins of leadership as well as improve on the system?
Without prejudice, it must be added that many corps members themselves have not proved resourceful to the organisations that employ them, and yet much is their anticipation to get lucrative jobs and live lofty. It would amount to no surprise the direction to which the nation is headed.

Life after Service

As the stress of the service year begins unwinding, much is on the mind of the average Nigerian youth engaged in the NYSC scheme as to what becomes of life after the end of his service to the nation. It then begins to dawn on one that the nation truly has little or nothing to offer; and the service year was more or less ‘a year of servitude’ in dedication to one’s nation. Scrambling at the slightest job opportunities now becomes the order of the day and dreams begin to sink into the abyss of uncertainties. The cloud of fear begins to descend and envelope the mind of the once confident forward looking Nigerian youth. Few are the ones opportuned to be retained in the organisations of their employ, while the others have to scamper to grab openings for job opportunities. To describe this situation as being pathetic is akin to applying a soft touch to the situation. Nonetheless that is the visceral reality being faced in the nation. Many have resorted to doing hand works in other to find a means to cater for their welfare as well as other dependents, especially those coming from less privileged homes. This is by no means a fair option.

The agony of the service year is enormous. The pittance “allawee” as called in common parlance among corps members, or “freebies” as corps members are made to think will no longer be available as soon as the final lump sum is paid into the account by the Federal Government. This lump sum is still quite remarkably small in comparison to the efforts dispensed in serving one’s nation; it’s an ungracious gratuity or compensation for a citizen’s labour to his nation. Few states try to ameliorate the situation of corps members by placing them on small stipends, which is to augment the one gotten from the Federal Government, albeit it is still not sufficient to sustain the corps members’ welfare. The entire service year is crowned with what is called “Passing out Parade”. This day comes with mixed feelings – one, is that the mandatory one year of servitude in the name of service to one’s nation comes to an end; and the other being the fear of joining millions of others in the labour market. One can imagine the state of mind of these corps members – unpalatable and pathetic, and such is what these youthful citizens have found themselves, albeit it is no strange thing to the average Nigerian who is unfortunately becoming accustomed to the anguish produced by Nigeria for its citizens.

The drama closes and now is the time. Few job opportunities open up, and more than triple the number of spaces available is the number of applicants vying to get employed. This is the point at which power play is exerted and it is the survival of the fittest.

What is the future for Nigeria?
“If the nation does not have a future for me, then what future has it?”

Nigeria’s history in retrospect streaks of malevolence. One would have expected NYSC to be a platform where youths are prepared for the tasks ahead in their various areas of endeavours, however, this is not the case today as many organisations has relegated the place of the [educated] youths to nothing but being menial workers, or slaves in the worst case.

Lending the words of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the [human] tragedy described above is a serious issue. The only way forward is to mobilize all possible support to end it.

The candid truth is that many of officials of the NYSC like many other civil servants in Nigeria are not willing to go beyond the line of their duty to ensure that organisations demanding corps members keep up with the guidelines regulating their demand for corps members. It is most typical of Nigerian civil servants to approach work with nonchalance, while unedifying attributes have found habitation as a norm. Little surprising is it that this approach to work is defined by laxity as the government has done abysmally low in terms of rewarding their services. And do you expect such one to make moves to check on some other person’s welfare, though that being his duty except by selfless conscience?
Is Nigeria willing to harness the potentials of her youthful population, or does it rather prefer to remain one for the geriatrics? Deliberate engagements of the youths will prove useful to the development of the nation. Strides must be made to accommodate the youths in various sectors of the nation’s economy. To continuously make the citizens an object of ridicule will only prove that the progress envisaged by the nation is no other than fantasy.

The result of the service year on the health of the nation is neither seen nor felt. The condition of the country still remains pathetically awry. Recent agitations by the labour unions for improvement on the welfare of workers through the increase in minimum wage reveal the anachronistic thinking we operate on. The devil-may-care approach adopted by the government shows that the welfare of the citizens is yet to be a crucial priority, and this is an indication that the value system in Nigeria is misplaced. Is it possible for one to commend additional crumb added to the table? For/to a slave, yes; but to a deserving person—no. It is commendable because it is nonetheless an improvement in the average citizen’s welfare.

Several submissions have been tendered from different quarters as to the need to scrap out the NYSC scheme, or review its current status. It is no wish of the writer to discountenance efforts geared at improving the welfare of the citizenry by the Government; after all it is out of the citizenry that the government is borne. The NYSC scheme has left a permanent streak on virtually every Nigerian youth, and that streak is no other than series of distress the nation offers one. It can rarely be said by a Nigerian citizen that his dreams have been kept alive; rather it has many times been dashed and truncated. Is the deliberate sustenance of the NYSC scheme a ploy to engage the youthful population in cheap labour, or some means to feather the nest of another?

Nigeria needs to be reawakened to the reality of the times. It is time for her to move up from the lowly hills of drowsiness that has gotten her hold over the years, and it must rise to the occasion of being a nation living up to its responsibility; that disdainful approach to her people that has been adopted must be dropped. Perhaps, the continuous insignificance of the NYSC scheme is buttressed by recent revelations about notable personalities who avoided the scheme, some of who are presently occupying public offices in the country. Some persons have altogether decided to grease the palms of the NYSC officials by forfeiting their allowances to them, and are yet awarded the discharge certificate despite being absent; or yet purchase exemption certificates. Where in all these is the spirit of patriotism? The NYSC scheme is a shadow of itself.

Lastly, I wish to underscore that the aim of this write up is throw light on the plight of the youths who had undergone or undergoing the compulsory one year service to the nation. It is by no means an attack on selected persons, or the government; rather it is an effort to sensitize the government to the unedifying state of the scheme and the need for deliberate efforts to re-assess and evolve a functional roadmap to make the scheme more beneficial or at worst scrap it.


Culled from: https://www.academia.edu/38454270/NYSC_Service_or_Servitude_-_The_Mockery_of_a_Nation.docx

That scheme is now scam, it sud b scrapped...But wait ooo, where did u see corp members washing toilet? ....haaaaa Op...Is it dat bad?