It is in the news that a bill seeking to scrap NYSC in the House of representative has scaled the second reading. The news which is a very sensational among Nigerians has raised concerns, commentaries agitations and debates for and against the bill. However, the fact remains that NYSC is a two edged sword. It has its good and bad sides; following the debate on twitter, it is obvious that those in support of the bill have not gained so much from the program while those against the scraping have testimonies to share.

NYSC has been really beneficial to school leavers basically. It bridges the gap between graduation and employment, although it has not favored everyone as such, it has been instrumental in proving an after school starter pack for school graduates across the nation. While graduates are not sure of automatic employment after NYSC, they are sure to be equipped with Small and medium scale entrepreneurship orientation and skill in camps with hope that they continue in that light after camp.

See project topics about SME/entrepreneurship

Something to recall about NYSC – Personal experience
At the NYSC orientation camps across the nation prospective corps members are made to compulsorily undertake a SAED – skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development within the two weeks out of three weeks in camp. Trust me, I have persons who are seriously practicing and earning from those paid skill acquisition. Sincerely two weeks is not enough and that’s the reason they strongly recommend that corps members should complete the training after camp since they have 11 more month before end of NYSC.

However, not too many of the corps members took the training seriously. 1 out of every 30 corps members can only boost of continuing with the learned skills. Funny enough, the larger adamant population end up stranded after all hope to get a quick job is spilled to the mud.

Peoples Jobs are at stake
Let’s not forget that it doesn’t stop at scraping NYSC. While the move to scrap it is still on the table, peoples Jobs are at stake. NYSC is a national programme housing public servants from across the nation, if it final gets scraped then the fight to improve gainful employment must have been defeated except there are plans on ground to fix that.

Without sounding subjective, let me quickly point out some downsides

Insecurity
The House of representative s move to scrap NYSC could be due to the underlying security issues the country is facing. NYSC in not worth dying for and as a national dispatch programme, some part of the country are not safe for habitation not to talk of strangers. The high rate of kidnap, rape, mass killing and abduction prevalent in some regions of the country calls for urgent attention and does not support the programme.

Familiarity complex
Familiarity complex is a psychological state where people develop preference for something simply because of their exposure to that thing. For instance, If NYSC sends Emeka to Kano, Nigeria, he will most likely not find Kano interesting and could affect his career plans because Kano is not a place familiar to him. Certainly Emeka might have developed preference for where he hails from and it would take time to change that.

Therefore, the dispatch method applied in NYSC only helps youth exposure partially without considerations of their psychological makeup. And that is not good.

Unproductive CDS
Community development services have become more like an exhibition ground, a ritual then what it is meant to serve. The programme is expected to have more inputs to make, or infact extend the SAED till after NYSC as this will extend the tenure of skill acquisition which shall fully kit corps members with skills to avoid being stranded after national service.

If not for the 30k allawee that NYSC should be scrapped.

Nysc was a good thing right from the outset, but the whole scrapping of a thing came as a result of high level of insecurity ravaging the country..
The best thing the government can do is to equip the graduates with the much needed vocational and entrepreneurship skill they much needed for survival....
Moreover, each graduates should be allowed to serve in his/her state...

I'm in 100% support of NYSC being scrapped, not revamped. My reasons are:
1. All the trainings that corps members are supposed to be enjoying are given to irrelevant groups, under former president Jonathan, Militants were enjoying these trainings, under Buhari, Fulanis and "repented bokoharam" members are the ones enjoying it. I served in ogun state some years ago, I can't point to any meaningful training I had in camp.
2. The aim of NYSC to make corps members travel to other areas of the country has long been defeated because of security reasons.
3. Corps members are most times rejected by their PPAs. Corps members beg to be accepted and even promise not to demand the benefits like accommodation, transportation and a few others that they are supposed to be given all because they want their PPAs to accept them.
4. Some corps members don t participate but settle the officials and at the end of the day also receive their certificate just like others.
It is a complete waste of 1 year, it is overhpyed.