By Helen Uloko

An Indian adage says that the tree that bears good fruit will be stoned. It is only when someone sees the value of the fruit and longs to taste its sweetness, will they take the effort to throw a stone.

This is the testimony of the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. MK Fadah, whose excellence has attracted stones from ignorant and shortsighted few.

People ordinarily know the value of good fruit. However, unknowingly or unconsciously, they hurl stones and after a while, they take shade, standing under the same tree, waiting for the fruit to fall into their mouth.

Fadah has enjoyed a distinguished military career. Yet he is still on an adventure to learn more. His adversaries can only toss fibs.

A native of Bade Local Government area of Yobe State, he attended the Kaduna State Polytechnic where he obtained Higher National Diploma (HND) before obtaining a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management at the Lagos State University.

He holds a Master's Degree in Peace and Strategic Studies from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State and he is currently working on a PhD Security and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Fadah was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1993 and to date, he has excelled in no less than 10 courses ranging from, young officers to executive levels.

Some of the courses are Young Officers’ Course - Intelligence, Tactical Intelligence Course - Sat and Civilian, Executive Management Course, Police Administration and Security Management, Comprehensive Protection of Civilian Leadership Course (Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre) among others.

Following his appointment as DG in May 2022,
Fadah reiterated that he would work hard to maintain the dream of the founding fathers of the scheme, which he said was targeted at uniting the country.

His landmark achievements in the first 100 days in office included the inauguration of the staff hostel in Kefi, Nasarawa State, the inauguration of the NYSC TV and Radio mast, almost completed ICT centre amongst others.

As DG, Fadah has stood his ground on improved staff welfare, NYSC mandate, and promotion of entrepreneurship among corps members while admonishing anti-drug abuse campaigns.

Fadah, since he assumed office, has been very focused on preparing the next generation of leaders and sharpening them to change the economic situation of the country.

He admonished the 2022 Batch B Stream 2 corps members to be good ambassadors of their families, institutions of graduation and the scheme wherever they found themselves as they.

He puts corps members on high alert to enable them to grasp the best of orientation camps, commending members where they have done well while sanctioning defaulters.

He has, however, been accused of corruption, forgery, incompetence, nepotism, marginalisation and being a stooge of the Senate President, Sen. Ahmed Lawan who is also from Yobe, to manipulate the 2023 elections in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

The debate on whether the scheme has achieved its aims and objectives and should be scrapped or restructured to meet current demands has also continued under the leadership of Fadah.

One of the proponents of the view that the NYSC be discarded is the Nigeria Rebirth Movement; it also holds a negative view of Fadah’s leadership.

In a statement signed by its President, Musbau Temitope, the supposed pro-Nigerian group said it came to this conclusion after an analysis of the activity of the scheme.

However, the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER), an Civil Society Organisation (CSO) in a statement cleared Fadah of any wrongdoing.

The organisation said it came to this decision after an independent assessment of the operations of the scheme under the leadership of Fadah.

CALSER argued that Fadah’s records, qualifications and scorecard are available for verification saying that those behind the accusations were doing so out of “sheer ignorance.”

The one-year mandatory NYSC programme which was established in 1973, three years after the Nigerian civil war to among other objectives, foster national unity and integration could be said to be a success.

Some perceive the NYSC as a good stopgap for millions of young people in Nigeria and should focus more on entrepreneurship, community development, and skills development.

Other Nigerians are of the view that the NYSC is needed now more than ever before as many young people have never known anywhere other than their hometowns and University community, a rare opportunity the scheme gives.

For others, the NYSC is a soft landing between leaving the university and entering the real world. It provides a unique opportunity of finding life-changing jobs, future partners and destiny helpers among others.

The major argument against the scheme, however, is the insecurity that has pervaded the nation as many are concerned about the safety of corps members in strange lands and the alleged corruption in the system.

On whatever side of the divide one stands, it is crystal clear that should the alleged corruption security concerns be addressed, the NYSC remains an all-important programme for developing countries like Nigeria with such diversity and distrust among geographical zones.

The healing of wounds from the civil war is not over, political tension between regions still exist, nation-building remains a collective mandate and just like soccer, the NYSC provides a fair platform where young Nigerians put aside their difference and relate like patriotic nations.

Uloko is a public affairs analyst writing from Obi, Nasarawa State.