Hi folks,
I do empathize with you all, having served in Kano in 2002. But central to all the complaints are these: the lack of comfort, and the absence of essential conveniences during service. This is deplorable. But these regions are also part of our nation: the people living here also contribute to our national wealth. So it should actually be perceived as the enlightening experience it is meant to be.
And it is called Service - service rendered by us, the youth, to our needy country, not the other way 'round. So I do find in all these complaints a lack of vision, of readiness to contribute in whatever manner possible to building Nigeria. Sure we can arrange our postings to cozy places, elope, or do soooo many other creative things resourceful Nigerians are world-renowned for. But the nation loses - and this is hindsight speaking.
And, to put it bluntly, I will state that shirking a year of service to the nation does not behoove those who dream of spending the rest of their lives being served-up and fed by this same nation. Of course this is only a moral argument that cannot be enforced. Yet do we not deplore the general Nigerian situation, the lack of good and timely planning, the frustration in getting basic things done, the fact that some regions of our country, which some of our fellow corps-members call home, are so neglected due to dismal public administration?
when we spot these and cry out against them, are we ready to serve when we get opportuned to man the agencies whose failures are responsible for the lack of electricity, potable water, even responsible governance that we bemoan?
I suspect this awareness may well be behind the Youth service scheme.
And what about that 'wasted year' tag? What then can I say, except this: if the nation that provided us with virtually free education decides it wants its recompense in the form of a year spent teaching the less-privileged, who are we to abstain from giving it in the desired manner?
The Youth service scheme is an honorable program - let's look into creative ways of making it purely profitable, chiefly for the public. Our interest will be served, and we will find it to be one of the most fun times of our youth.
Peace.
-Tobe.

Its depressing that nigerian youths can express their greed even on forum like this.
A year of community service even in an hamlet, is not only beneficial to the poor community which you are posted too, but an opportunity for you to see life from another view.
The only opportunity those people have for quality education and an introduction to the outside world is your person and your knowledge.
I was amazed to see how backward some places in the eastern nigeria is, and how errorneous most lagosians view the rest of nigeria.
You can only appreciate a culture better if you experience and get to understand the people.
The partiality involved in the primary postings happens in everyday nigerian life, not limited to youth service alone, so even if you are petochemical engr graduate teaching in primary school during your service year, it doesn't stop you from getting into shell after your service year, if indeed you are worth working in shell.

true talk Makin.I like that,you have just said all.Anyway the 1st day i got my Call Up,i cry like never before,little did i know God's purpose for my life.not until i came to Dutse(Jigawa) to claim what God have deposited for me.
I will always want to Use this opportunity to express my love for RCCF They took me in when i thought i have no where to Go.Even since my stay here has been wonderful.Even if there is no bread on my table,and i have to sacrify alot.I still thank my God for been here.It has been a lifetime lesson,which i never forget.Anyway i will have to travel to the Gumel camp to inturn welcome the intended Batch B corpers coming in on the 5th next week.So if anyone in the house is coming to Jigawa,dont be so worry i will be at the Gate waiting to embrass you.to let you know whats God plan is meant for you!

wow! im suprised at some people! What part of serving my country is living in squalid conditions The least my country can do is give me basic and adequate facilities, most corpers do not ask 4 more. impresently serving in lagos and im in camp right now and im wondering how bad other camps will be if lagos is this bad. the toilets are like wow!!!! the food is deplorable, we've not done anythingproductive since we got to this camp and yet imsupposed tobe serving my country? nysc is a bloody waste of my time, (apart 4rom the chicks ive met sha)

The NYSC I think shouldn't be seen as a waste of time.It's sure a way we need to serve our country.Don't forget that we are "SERVING" the country.In some countries,it's even worse.In Russia,after graduation all graduating seniors compulsorily undergo a two-year military "SERVICE" without pay.They are serving their country in return for some free social services rendered by the government.Their military camp is in no way better than the NYSC scheme.
Though the conditions of the NYSC is really bad,I think we need to look for a way to make the best use of the scheme rather than criticize.Get to know Nigeria better so you can talk about your country when you go abroad-you won't understand how little we Nigerians know about our country until you jet out.
Make the best use of NYSC!!!!!

If only Government officials are not corrupt NYSC is a good programme. If funds allocated for ur food and other s are well spent you wont complain about water, food and all that. Mind you NYSC is not to give you comfort, but training, adaptation to other cultures and weather. When I was in in camp I hated it especially when they woke you up around 5am, you know early moring sleep is sweet esepcially during harmattan period, but with all that, with no accomodation for us I did enjoy it. I must quickly add that most of us will be craving to serve in urban cities especially lag, abuja, ph the truth is that corp members are not well taken care of in d urban cities, go to d villages people care about you especially if your services are needed there, villagers are caring and very accomodating especially in the south and some part of north at least my friends told me so.

I served in Abuja some years back, the first problem is accomodation, infact most corp memebers were sleeping in uncompleted buildings that time, which is one of the reasons I said urban cities are bad for corp memebers you only assume you may be employed after which may not be, above all the demerits of the programme prepare you for life challenges especially the aje butters.

Am currently serving in Rivers State and this idea of sending all corpers to teaching is not the best.Infact my service yr has been hectic

NYSC IS SO WACK. IF I GET UP THERE WILL SURELY SCRAP IT. WASTED 1 YEAR IN SERVICE DOING NUTIN. WAS POSTED TO A LOCAL GOVT AND THERE WAS NUTING DOING AND WAS RE-POSTED TO NYSC NURSERY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL.THROUGHOUT, I DID NUTIN JUST SIT UNDER THE TREE AND GIST CHASE ALL THE HAUSA GIRL BUT ENDED UP NOT GETTING ANY COS OF SHARIA. THE ONLY GOOD THING ABT MY NYSC WAS CENSUS AND I TRAVEL HOME MOST OF THE TIME. EVEN GOT BACK 1 WEEK TO P.O.P, MY FRIEND GOT BACK 2 DAYS TO P.O.P.

hello people! why all these terrifying talks about nysc.Anyways mine goes like this guess a diff. version of what some conceive nysc 2 b. I am an igbo girl.was posted 2 yola ,prior 2 dat time i did all i culd to avoid being posted 2 d north cos dat was wen sharia was at its peak.i went as far as bribing my way thro.just 2 find myself posted 2 lagos but all efforts failed lo and behold ! i found myself posted to adamawa state '' of all places'' i thot. little did i know dat all things work 2geda 4 good, my first few days in camp wasnt funny they were d gruelling days of my life., still tried 2 redeploy to lagos but didnt work out i had to take my fate.

Serving in yola really exposed me 2 a lot of new things and challenges.It brought out a lot of qualities i never really knew i possesd.For the first time i tasted wat being independent in a foreign land actually looked like.Most importantly i made valuable friends 4rm diff ethnic groups/culture.today the story of my life would never be complete without yola .the memories are still fresh .funny enough all my friends in yola have d same thing to say.we r all planing a vacation there sometime so we cud all b 2geda n bring back memories.
I think nysc is a good scheme and should continue.one thing i discourage people from doing is trying to have it all workd out for you as in d posting thing.chill and report to wherever u r posted to if u are wise u will see a lot of opportunites there for u to take advantage of and explode.nysc is not all about job opporutunities.i beleive thats y a lot want 2 serve in d big cities.a lot of us dat served in yola are now currently working with big multinationals like shell,chevron,nationaloil,banks and on, so please its not about were u serve but about the impact u make in peoples lifes.

Just a question please

Those of us that saw NYSC as a waste of time and didn't bother serving, did we actually miss anything at all?

Come to think of it, why should NYSC be used as a basis for getting employed? Still don't get it.

Somebody once told me, if you want to register ur biz, you will need ur NYSC certificate , I was like "say what?"

Well, didn't bother serving and not regreting anything!

I served in Kano state for 3 weeks. That was in the 90's and the Wudil camp was just loads of fun. In a way though, I have to admit that I was homesick, Uyo to Kano state was quite a journey. I missed my ride in Aba, and previously, when I was at the bus station in Uyo, the crowd of passengers, slated for that trip to Kano state (some of them were non corpers) was quite a lot. Momsie was assuring me not to panic, that if I can't make it to camp, well, I can come back home.
Well, I boarded the bus, we reached Aba or so, and then I stepped out with a colleague from school for food. When we came back, we were told that our bus had left. We had missed our bus. Deadline was midnight and it was a day's journey. Fortunately, one of the women took pity on us, and got us into the next bus and arrived in my camp, just hours before the midnight deadline and as a matter of fact, another corper who reported at the post, after midnight was turned away. (No compassion)

I have to admit that pangs of homesickness hit me shortly afterwards. I also missed my classmates, most of them, serving in various states. The food was nothing special and that may have contributed to my illness. Still, the experience was worth it. Chei, Naija. Now, that I think of it, I realize how much I miss that place. You make new friends, get exposed to different people, debate till night time with people from various universities, share bunks with strangers that you wont even meet again, and yet still, it is always fun. I remember staying up late at night, eating at a Buka shop that was at the camp. I remember playing board games with other people, you just go into the booth, make yourself available and you are on the spot. The friendliness at camp between strangers is very encouraging, because here in yankee, you don't find a lot of people that are very friendly.

Its unfortunate that I lost touch with my NYSC mates. We exchanged addresses but I did not write afterwards. I was focused on coming to America.

Has the NYSC outlive its usefulness? I doubt it. It is the experience that counts.

Cheers.

Hello Girl,
The truth is there's nothin in it, i served in a village where there is no water(not even well water) they can't dig to reach water(never heard that b4). So i bought water 4 a whole year serving & guess what? i was better off tan some corpers in other local govt,
STAY WHERE U ARE!

Good gracious! This thread is so hilarious. I haven't served O!, but i will by His grace in a couple of years. I'll just make the best of it, want to even serve in the north, kaduna to be precise.

am presently serving in jalingo taraba state
read all ur comments, was interesting
nysc is fun and an experience
lets forget the inadequacies

hi chi!
naija is always a place to be and NYSC is a place for real youths to meet, mingle and intract with themselves. so if pple tells you that the scheme is useless, don't mind them. they are the very pple that wants to be usuless. but the naked truth is that if you want to show your patriotism for your great country, this is the right time to do so starting it with NYSC program. but know it that nigeria is a place where anything is obtainable, i know a lot of my friends that studied in uk and they served in good place unlike us that were posted in a remote place. it seems to me that pple from abroad are highly favourd in trems of posting. so make up ur mind and come home to your father land and help develope it with what u've learnt over there. no amount of sacrifice is to much for your father land.
but as for me, am serving in a computer institute in kwara state. though things are not moving well we are managing and nothing they happen. we are catching our fun here. introspective kind of pple tends to be retrospective. pple that form tends to be open. we mingle with the native pple here and try to know and understand them better. see i got to know a lot of pple here and am very glad. Most probably, i will find my lost rib here, you know. .
and i will definetely get a job to cap up all things.
do not be afraid to come back to naija and serve, because God said He is with you.

My experience was fun, served with a bank in lagos and was retained, was quite uneventful for me cuz i live in lagos, nothing out of the ordinary, hola,

I left Naija right after graduation,I heard I was posted to Kwara state or so.
Nice to know I missed nothing.
NYSC was primarily meant to send southerners to teach in village Northern schools that no one wants to go to.

They should phase it out.

That' it girl , i personally see it as a waste of time!

am a yoruba guy served in yobe. got invovled with the most beautiful person ever and my heart got busted. still love this babe but she s got a wonderful job and i cant get anu king of job. she broke my heart or she s breaking it. feel bad ever remembering service year cos i remember her.

collino:

am a yoruba guy served in yobe. got invovled with the most beautiful person ever and my heart got busted. still love this babe but she s got a wonderful job and i can't get anu king of job. she broke my heart or she s breaking it. feel bad ever remembering service year because i remember her.

sorry ooo,it wasn't meant to be,hopefully you'll find someone that appreciates you.

Wow in terms of job experience I gained next to nothing .

But I will tell you what I gained

I learned how to,

Sorry that is for the sexuality Thread (Adults only)

lf l should remember my NYSC days, then sadness would continue to reign into my heart.
l served in Gombe state, a village called tallasse, l have never seen a village like that before in life but as faith took me there for NYSC.
lt was a terrible experience because the villagers behaviour are more or less like animals.
To me NYSC is a waste of time. l think federal governmenr should scrap it out so that graduates will use that one year to do a beteer thing in life

lf l should remember my NYSC days, then sadness would continue to reign into my heart.
l served in Gombe state, a village called tallasse, l have never seen a village like that before in life but as faith took me there for NYSC.
lt was a terrible experience because the villagers behaviour are more or less like animals.
To me NYSC is a waste of time. l think federal governmenr should scrap it out so that graduates will use that one year to do a beteer thing in life

kemoade:

lf l should remember my NYSC days, then sadness would continue to reign into my heart.
l served in Gombe state, a village called tallasse, l have never seen a village like that before in life but as faith took me there for NYSC.
lt was a terrible experience because the villagers behaviour are more or less like animals.
To me NYSC is a waste of time. l think federal governmenr should scrap it out so that graduates will use that one year to do a beteer thing in life

abeg kemoade,explain further,what were they doing?

i have read posts that talk of patriotism with bravado et al. The truth is, NYSC is a bloody waste of time. I will try to scan and post the picture of our camp in 2001 that was set ablaze in Keffi-Nasarawa State by crazy-ass students of Government College Keffi, after raping a female corp member while we were in camp.

A lot of guys lost all their certificates and personal effects to that event. Brigadier Ogunkoya was the NYSC boss then. He had to come-in from Abuja because of the crisis. We did not do POP at camp.

The state government, as represented by the present deputy- governor, Labaran Maku, who is now deputy governor of the state covered the truth. They did that weeks after corps member changed their mind about re-deploying cos everybody wanted to redeploy after that incident and Ogunkoya who was on ground and saw the situation granted redeployment to all that wanted another state.

As if that was not enough, those who stayed didnt fare any better. It was one story of assault and battery from the natives. A lot of story that remains unheard because of the repressive NYSC laws.

But we should thankGod that the Freedom Of Information Bill has been passed. The mess being covered by NYSC officials, especially in the North will be opened. Oppressed, assaulted, raped etc corp members will be able to speak loud and clear.

Above all, if you have been to the NYSC Store at Area 11 in Abuja, you will know that the NYSC Scheme is a major source of wealth and income for some prominent Nigerians who are contractors to the NYSC and who will do everything to ensure that the useless, one-sided time wasting rubbish that led to the death of many young and promising lads and lass through motor accidents; kaduna, kano and Jos religiously motivated  riots is not scrapped.

No program anywhere in the world is meant to last forever.
Are there even any evaluations and re evauations to determine if NYSC is achieving any goals they set it up for.

They can start by polling coppers at the end of the service year of their opinions.

G-reycells:

i have read posts that talk of patriotism with bravado et al. The truth is, NYSC is a bloody waste of time. I will try to scan and post the picture of our camp in 2001 that was set ablaze in Keffi-Nasarawa State by crazy-ass students of Government College Keffi, after raping a female corp member while we were in camp.

A lot of guys lost all their certificates and personal effects to that event. Brigadier Ogunkoya was the NYSC boss then. He had to come-in from Abuja because of the crisis. We did not do POP at camp.

The state government, as represented by the present deputy- governor, Labaran Maku, who is now deputy governor of the state covered the truth. They did that weeks after co
member changed their mind about re-deploying because everybody wanted to redeploy after that incident and Ogunkoya who was on ground and saw the situation granted redeployment to all that wanted another state.

As if that was not enough, those who stayed didnt fare any better. It was one story of assault and battery from the natives. A lot of story that remains unheard because of the repressive NYSC laws.

But we should thankGod that the Freedom Of Information Bill has been passed. The mess being covered by NYSC officials, especially in the North will be opened. Oppressed, assaulted, raped etc corp members will be able to speak loud and clear.

Above all, if you have been to the NYSC Store at Area 11 in Abuja, you will know that the NYSC Scheme is a major source of wealth and income for some prominent Nigerians who are contractors to the NYSC and who will do everything to ensure that the useless, one-sided time wasting rubbish that led to the death of many young and promising lads and lass through motor accidents; kaduna, kano and Jos religiously motivated riots is not scrapped.

, that was a lovely one, the proramme[good concept though is outliving its usefulness, i agree with you; the central stores people,the state cashiers/directors are actually richer,arrogant and greedy, i guess they dont spend their salaries for a year at times!!!!!!

I served with a military institution in zaria.It made me believe more in Naija.I believe Naija is workable if we had the right leadership.I am a medical doctor and had to adjust to a sharp fall in income during my service yr as the NYSC allowee was peanuts compared to my house officer salary. The commandant of the institution I served was a gentleman who treated us with respect.He believes so much in naija as an entity.He organized tours for us to visit Zamfara and Abuja.The Zamfara visit was to prove that people were not being eaten alive due to Shariah law.We met the Emir of Gusau without an appointment.He was courteous. It made my fellow corpers from the South appreciate how equally poor Northerners were or even worse.
I was initially apprehensive of wasting a yr of my life.However, for me,it was a social and humbling experience. I made new friends,though unfortunately,we dont keep in touch with most of them.
I cannot honestly say it will be a good experience for all,because in my own case, I am from northern Nigeria,was posted to Kaduna, my state of birth (not origin) and was very close to home.I did not "organize" the posting.I wanted Abuja but ended up in Kaduna.I did not mind however, as I believe my 15yrs of education in South Western Nigeria amounted to my own National service. I also was not in camp most of the time as I was excused, however,be prepared for some shocking/interesting experiences in camp.
A couple of my friends that were posted to the East escaped death by the whiskers during the retaliotory riots against Northerners in the East.They were a few feet from death but were saved by the money they incidentally left in a desk in their room.Apparently, an arguement broke out amongst the to be killers about how to share the money.One of my friends was in the ceiling while the other was under the bed.They still returned to the East to complete their National Service against all odds.
Most people I know enjoyed it, best to keep an open mind, By the way I served in the 2000/01 service year, have fun.

Thanks for sharing your experiences y'all. I can't say I will do NYSC after hearing all this. Thanks for letting me know what's up.

Hi,everyone,i am so disappointed that you all don't see the essence of youth service.let us take the positives and not dwell on the negatives.Truth be told we all in one way or another learnt one thing or another ,had fun and some of us have said one time past or will say-O boy NYSC Sweet OOOO!.I was privileged to serve in Bayelsa state and i had a first hand experience what it takes to come from that part of the country.although i wish or tried to change it.i must confess outside the usual no light,mosiquitos,and insult from the governor.I guess it was one of the remarkable time of my life.i will never forget.Cos it left an indelible mark on me.So with authority i can say i am from bayelsa-Niger delta.
Chinani,i must confess too you it is going to be tough but only the tough gets going.And i promise you it will be fun.As we say you will be the responsibility of the government or government pikin.Believe me this experience will blow you away and you will know more about where you are from and what you have to do to make things right.Once again i'll say jump at the opportunity to learn and serve your fatherland.
ciao

I served in Bauchi State somewhere called Darazo teaching in a secondary school. Well the amenities there were crap and the weather better forgotten so hot atimes that you cant sleep indoors and so cold atimes that you must wear winter jackets.
I was lucky to escape the northern riots
but there were some funny aspect of it
Teaching S.S.S student Mathematics and Chemistry and they cant understand English Language so I have to find the Hausa word Acids, Bases, Calculus, Trigonometry as all the students would just be staring at you if you speak much Turenchi(English) and smiling at the female corpers amorously.
Camp was rubbish we were accomodated in the dining hall for weeks.
Then mixing with some of the local guys was fun though you cant go and visit them at home for fear of you peeping at and snatching their wives.
Some female corpers were stoned for not covering their heads or for wearing trousers
But forget all the Shariah, the local guys stil find a way to block chics but strictly after dark The only females you can see outside during the day are those over 60 years and those under 7 years all other gals are locked indoors

Kemoade, you said Talasse people behave like animals?well,i served in Gombe too(Yamaltu Deba) and i can say one thing,u're not far from the truth if you are talking about personal hygiene,but aside that,Deba people were kind and helped corpers a whole lot.Infact they were kind of scared of corpers and all through the few months i spent there,i lived like a queen.
Mallam Sidi(orientation camp site) was horrible though,camp was on during harmattan and we were buying half a bucket of hot water then for about 40 naira(those of us who could afford it) otherwise you go without washing or you use the icy cold water like that!the weather was horrible with flies and mosquitoes and the useless illiterate abokis in camp.
Overall,I won't say NYSC is bad,but the truth is,it's not serving its purpose at all especially with Engineers serving in banks and BFN graduates serving in Primary schools.The good news is,NYSC keeps some graduates sane for at least one year.Without the ALLOWEE,some people will find it difficult to survive.If you don't live abroad,i won't advice you to bust NYSC unless you are so rich you are sure of getting a job within the NYSC year.