hi guyz, stumbled upon dis & i tot d house nid take a look,
read & pass ur comment

Petition on the existence of NYSC

It is a well known fact that the world we live in is a dynamic one and the trend of events has shown beyond all reasonable doubt that a policy which was beneficial three years ago may not be of any importance in the now. This process of adaptation is one aspect of development that should not be overlooked by any body, organization or society that intends to improve upon what is obtainable in its current system.
This petition seeks to x-ray the motive, merits and demerits of the N.Y.S.C programme and find out if it still fits into the Nigeria of today and also the global trend of events.
The National Youth Service Corps was an initiative of the former Commander in chief, General Yakubu Gowon for two main reasons
1) To bridge the general gap in the level of development between Northern Nigeria and the Southern Nigeria.
2) To enhance Socio-Economic Integration.

This N.Y.S.C programme has been in operation for over 30 years and has gone a long way however in fulfilling its objectives. It is a thing of common knowledge that after a task has been achieved, any further addition of effort to that task becomes a waste. This above statement does not argue with the fact that initially a productive effort was being made in the area of the task. Rather it emphasizes that when the aim of an effort is achieved, any further material or physical input makes the individual to appear as one “living in the past”.

The scenario above is identical to the current existence of the N.Y.S.C. in the Nigeria of today. The N.Y.S.C. programme was of much relevance in the past but if the Nigeria of today is to be considered, the N.Y.S.C. programme now has reached a point of “diminishing marginal utility” as the economists put it (a point when additional input brings little or no marginal output).

The N.Y.S.C. programme has not only become of little or no effect, but has started creating severe multi-dimensional setbacks that are too obvious to be noticed.

The above statement may appear to be an exaggeration but a rational and logical look at the society and the effects of the N.Y.S.C programme will prove that the statement may even be an understatement.
The major reasons that make it very rational to eliminate this N.Y.S.C programme from the Nigerian system are:

1) The N.Y.S.C. introduces a delay
The fact that the Nigerian educational system is too prolonged is a matter that has silently plagued this country (considering the time duration it takes to get a degree in Nigeria as against that of other countries). In the U.K a Bachelors’ Degree in engineering takes 3 years to complete with one extra year the for A-level certification making it 4 years. In the U.S it also takes 4 years to obtain a Bachelors’ Degree in Engineering whereas in Nigeria it takes 5 years to get a Bachelors’ Degree in Engineering.
After graduation (in September/ October) it takes roughly 1 year (September of graduation to September of N.Y.S.C.) for the results of the graduates in some fast schools to be complied by the results and records offices and forwarded to the N.Y.S.C for the postings. This is largely due to the population of the universities. In many large universities it takes 11/2 or 2 years to compile. During this delay period it is neither possible for one to engage in useful work that will build his wealth of experience nor is it possible for one to add to his academic qualification by pursuing a Masters’ Degree. The lack of N.Y.S.C discharge certificate paralyses the individual for this 1 or 2 years period. After this delay of 1 or 2 years comes the Youth Service which takes up another year. A look at the general trend of events in the Nigerian setting in comparison to what is obtainable in the developed countries is shown below:

The Nigerian Setting The British Setting
1) Sec. School Graduate (ideal age 17yrs) 1) A-level Graduate (age 17yrs)
2) Engineering Graduate (ideal age 22yrs) 2) Engineering Graduate ( age 20yrs)(3/4 years in developed nations)
(Neglecting University strikes and rewriting J.A.M.B several times before admission)
3) Youth Service Posting Delay 1 year (age 23yrs) 3) Masters’ Degree or 1 year work experience (age 21yrs)
4) Youth Service (N.Y.S.C) 1 year (age 24 yrs) 4) Doctorate Degree (PhD) 3 years (age 24 yrs)


5) FINAL AGE/QUALIFICAITON (NIGERIAN SETTING)
Bachelors’ Degree (B.Eng)
at 24 years of age with NO work experience in the field of study
(this is an imaginary case. Only 1 out of a huge number of young Nigerians has this profile. The real case is FAR worse.)

5) FINAL AGE/QUALIFICAITON (BRITISH SETTING)
Bachelors’ Degree (B.Eng) +
Masters’ Degree (M.Sc) and +
Doctorate Degree (PhD)
at 24 years
OR
Masters’ Degree with 3 years of work experience on the field of study



Immediate setbacks caused by the age delay introduced by N.Y.S.C

The self-explanatory comparison above is the very reason why;

1) in Developed countries people can afford to work with a Doctorate Degree since they still fit into the labour force after a PhD while in Nigeria there is even a drought of Masters’ Degree holders in the labour force.
2) most multinationals prefer to employ expatriates who have more to offer (since they are more schooled or more experienced than their Nigerian equivalents) at a younger and more productive age.
3) many Nigerians who find themselves out of the countries hardly get reasonable jobs (are under-employed) but end up with menial, degrading, low-level jobs since their CVs and profiles cannot compete favourably with that of their British or American age mates in the international job market.
4) there is a comparative disadvantage hanging over Nigerians who insist on furthering in education (for a Masters’ Degree or PhD) since he/she may not fall into the age bracket required by most organizations and ministries for entry level employees after he finishes his academic pursuit.
Long-term setbacks caused by the Age Delay caused by N.Y.S.C

The Major long term effects of this delay caused by the N.Y.S.C are

1) In the future there may be a drought of Masters’ and PhD holders in the Nigerian society.
This is because it is generally believed that any body that furthers for a PhD will end up a lecturer since he will be too old to fit into the labour force. This is NOT the case in developed countries since people graduate from their PhD before 25 and still fit into the labour force by virtue of their age. Again a large portion of the labour force (especially delicate top positions that requires exceptionally specialized personnel (PhD holders)) may be overtaken by expatriates .This will in turn lead to foreign control on our labour force.
The second major reason why it is becoming increasingly necessary to eliminate N.Y.S.C. is that

2) The main aims of the establishment of the N.Y.S.C have already been achieved.
Looking critically at the Nigeria that evolved after the movement of the capital of the nation to Abuja we can see that the north no longer lags in terms of social and economic development. The movement of the capital of Nigeria from Lagos to Abuja (north) helped a long way to bridge the cultural barrier and social gap.
The fact that the capital of Nigeria was moved to the north-Abuja- (shortly after the N.Y.S.C was passed into law) has helped to build up and develop northern Nigeria and integrate Nigeria culturally and faster than the N.Y.S.C. programme would have done. Since this was one of the main reasons for the establishment of the N.Y.S.C., (i.e. the development of the northern region by infiltration of graduates) it is now obvious that this aim has been achieved and we can now bid N.Y.S.C farewell.
It sounds absurd that a policy that was established with the situation of things as at 70s in mind is still left fully operational in this dynamic, modernized age (2006, over 30 years after) even after its objectives have been fulfilled. This is a case of living in the past.
3)Huge Unjustified expenses by the government.
Annually vast amounts of money are budgeted and spent on the N.Y.S.C. programme. These funds can be effectively diverted into other areas that require financial attention rather than spending huge resources on an outmoded, obsolete programme. There are about 70 degree awarding institutions in Nigeria excluding polytechnics and other non-degree awarding institutions.
Because of inaccessibility of accurate statistics it will be assumed that each of these institutions produces 120 graduates (which is a gross underestimation considering the fact that most universities matriculate thousands of students).
It then follows that in one single N.Y.S.C. batch, over N756 million is budgeted for this N.Y.S.C. Programme, excluding polytechnics (not considering that there are two batches in one year).
This result is far less than the actual figure because of the underestimations made in the population and the exclusion of polytechnics from the institutions considered.


Number of degree awarding institutions Approximately 70 (excluding Polytechnics)
Number of Graduates forwarded for N.Y.S.C in one Batch Underestimated to be 200
N.Y.S.C monthly allowance N8500 monthly
N102,000 per annum per head
TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE
IN ONE N.Y.S.C BATCH (EXCLUDING POLYTECHNINCS AND UNDERESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF CORPERS)N1,428,000,000
(under-estimated)

Considering the two N.Y.S.C Batches in one Year Over N2.8Bn annually
(under-estimated and approximated due to lack of access to accurate statistics)
Including Polytechnics Over N 4 Bn annually (estimated and approximated)


This implies that the Federal Government has spent over N20Bn on an obsolete, marginally-beneficial programme, just within the last 5 years.

These funds can be productively channelled into education (in form of postgraduate scholarships) and other areas that can and will be of much more relevance.

4) The N.Y.S.C programme indirectly increases unemployment.
Another silent but critical consequence of the N.Y.S.C. is unemployment. Many companies now take advantage of this N.Y.S.C. programme and corpers are now sought for at the expense of the real graduates because of cheap labour. Most job positions that would have been taken up by graduates are now reserved by these firms for corpers every year while a lot of graduates roam the streets unemployed.
It is also noteworthy that in any oversaturated system, one of the fastest ways to reduce the saturation is to release some contents of this saturated system into the external environment. In Nigeria the labour market is oversaturated. However it is impossible to adopt the strategy of exporting labour which India applied and witnessed bountiful results. Why? Because Nigerian graduates cannot compete favourably in the international job market due to over-age and low qualification which is still caused by the N.Y.S.C programme.
In India a similar rise in unemployment which is being witnessed in Nigeria was also experienced. However the Indian government was able to circumvent the situation by exporting professionals who had very attractive work/academic profiles with striking CVs (they had good certificates and qualifications at a young and productive age). This is the reason why in many top multinationals (even in Nigeria) a good percentage of the expatriates are from India. This would hardly be possible in the Nigerian case because as seen in the table above, at 24 years of age a Nigerian has just a Bachelors Degree while a Briton has a PhD or a Masters’ Degree with 3 years of professional work experience at the same age.

If that be the case, then how will Nigeria export labour or professionals? Why would the few Nigerian who find themselves in the international job market (outside the country) not complain of marginalization (due to an uncompetitive CV) and finally run back home to increase the saturation in our labour market?


5) The temptation of falsification of age
It is almost a normal thing now that most of our graduates do not apply for jobs with birth certificates but rather with sworn affidavits of age. Why would someone prefer to go to court, spend money time and effort to get a sworn affidavit of age for a job when he/she normally should have a birth certificate?
Some Nigerian graduates who have been delayed for 2 extra years by the N.Y.S.C programme do not fall into the age bracket required by most organisations for entry level employees. The next alternative is to falsify age with a sworn affidavit of age. This is obviously a corrupt act. Corruption in any way can never be justified but at times, removing the temptation that leads to the corrupt act may be a good way to combat the corruption. In this case one of the temptations is the 2-year delay introduced by the N.Y.S.C.

We are clamouring for the federal Government to look into the existence of this N.Y.S.C. programme and subsequently reconsider. We the Nigerian students do ask that the N.Y.S.C should be removed from the Nigeria constitution to help foster societal development.

I bumped into this while doing personal some research. You make some good points, i was borderline on the NYSC issue. But I think I'm now convinced it should be scrapped. It has outlived its usefulness, in its wake voluntary youth entrepreneurship programs or other skill enhancement programs can be developed for graduates to apply if they so desire, or launch into the labour market.