NYSC Extension? Not So Fast, Hon. Minister — Francis Ewherido Weighs In
Dr. Olatunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, has suggested making the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service year two years instead of one. This planned extension will have a significant impact on the corps members and their families, as well as more federal cash. As a result, the idea must be carefully examined.
A representative sample of kids who are prospective youth service corps members must be gathered before implementing this kind of adjustment in order to gauge their opinions regarding the extension. Was that completed? Gen Zers are independent thinkers. I spoke to some of them, and I’ll share what I learn about how they feel about the plan. I’ll divide it into two main groups for simplicity’s sake: those who desire it and those who don’t. The first group wishes to do the service.
Some people have a deadly dread of the unknown. They are thrilled about the suggested two-year term since they are prepared to serve forever. The final set, in my opinion, merits special attention. Despite all of the eagle’s amazing qualities, many eaglets are reluctant to leave the comfort of their parents’ nests when they reach adulthood. Instinctively, the parents send them off to begin their own lives.
Those who think it’s a waste of time make up the second group. They believe that there aren’t many jobs available, so rather than waiting for the bad day to come, they want to start working as soon as they graduate in order to deal with unemployment. Another set exists. They have already learned how to be entrepreneurs at school. On campus, they sell things and render services to their fellow students. They earn a good living. One student requested that his parents cease giving him money.
Some people have gained specific abilities through online instruction. They already make a lot of money as students. Some people are interested in trading online. Some of the people I’ve met are already worth millions. I discovered that some of them are really wealthy “big boys.” Already, the one-year service is a hindrance. They won’t accept being told to do it for two years. Some people want to be Japanese, but they also want to serve because avoiding it could cost them in the future when opportunities present themselves. However, an extra year is problematic.
When I originally traveled to Nsukka, in what was then Anambra State, from Effurun, Bendel State (now Delta), to begin my studies in 1984, my family didn’t hear from me until they received my letter three weeks to a month later, and there was no panic. Back then, Nigeria was safer. That is no longer the case. The parents now phone every hour till the wards reach their destination if they are deployed to specific regions of the nation. The family also communicates frequently, and for good cause.
Some corps members have been killed or abducted, while others have passed away as a result of receiving subpar medical care while unwell. What specific actions is the NYSC taking to enhance corps members’ well-being in addition to raising their allowance?
And that makes me wonder if corps members have access to group life insurance coverage. If there isn’t, there ought to be because corps members pass away annually. For example, if the death benefit is N5 million, it can provide financial support to the bereaved family, particularly those with limited resources, but it cannot make up for the loss of the corps member. Young people in the corps who pass away sometimes have younger siblings.
The younger ones can be trained using the death benefit. Despite the fact that death occurs every day, some individuals find it awkward when we discuss it.
This leads me to the following point. Some of these corps members’ families are waiting for them to finish their duty, find employment, and support the family financially. Is the NYSC interested in extending their 77,000 monthly allowance for another year?
Let’s now examine the minister’s justification for the idea. According to him, the program’s one-year extension to a two-year plan is a component of initiatives to improve youth employment and enhance skill acquisition. This is debatable. What transformative skills are corps members now learning that make the two-year extension necessary? Not much at all. Millions of graduates are unemployed in part because of this. According to them, the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Growth (SAED) program will be expanded as part of the proposed one-year extension to better prepare corps members with real-world skills for job creation and national growth.
During my service, there was a session where a person came to teach business administration and wealth creation. Among the corps members were graduates who had worked in their families’ businesses and knew a little bit about running a business. After finishing, the man was inundated with questions he couldn’t answer, and he finally admitted that he was just a ministry civil servant who didn’t even have the guts to start his own business. This is why the NYSC needs to come out and highlight the impact and outcomes of SAED in order to justify extending the period of service.
That was 37 years ago, but what has changed, NYSC? Nigeria needs effective solutions to its unemployment problem, not meaningless rituals. Universities and polytechnics, not NYSC, are better suited to handle skill acquisition and prepare graduates for entrepreneurship with improved funding and redesigned curricula. Graduating students should know what they want to do with their lives, which varies from person to person and cannot be accomplished by grouping corps members together. Additionally, some of these graduates began earning money from the university.
Some people made real money in school and are now millionaires. What are they supposed to learn from NYSC? Some are not even interested in serving at all.
Instead of what the minister is suggesting, graduates who are still unsure of their post-university plans can embark on a journey of self-discovery guided by a mentor. The additional year’s funding needs to go toward raising educational standards. The ingredients for everybody’s greatness and success are within, not without. Universities and polytechnics are more appropriate because it can only be stoked from the outside.
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