Group Questions FG’s Compulsory NYSC Scheme 

Ayodeji Ake

The Convener of the Social Rehabilitation Gruppe (SRG), Dr. Marindoti Oludare, has queried the mandatory one-year National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) scheme for fresh graduates under the age of 30 from tertiary institutions, saying the scheme should be voluntary and not compulsory.

Calling for the review of the Sections 12 and 13 of the NYSC Act, he argued while addressing journalists in Lagos yesterday that the scheme has denied many Nigerian youths of employment opportunities and those vying for political offices to serve their country.

According to him, “Today, I stand before you with a clear mind and strong determination to challenge an unjust system that has persisted for so long (half a century to be precise). I speak of the NYSC which I have termed the National Youth Servitude Corps. It is an ill-conceived institution that was established with the assumptions that merely posting a few Nigerians outside their places or origin will magically unite the country.

“50 years down the line, preceding and current events have proven to us that this magical machination did not do its job. If ‘a fool at 40 is a fool forever’, I argue that a dud at 50 is a dud forever. Nigeria has gotten progressively more divided in the intervening years since then. Moreover, it is a system that reeks of servitude rather than service, an archaic relic that needs urgent reform.

“The NYSC was conceived as a means to foster national unity, promote cultural exchange, and develop young minds for the betterment of our beloved country. However, somewhere along the line, the spirit of volunteerism and national pride got lost in the bureaucratic maze. What should have been a voluntary endeavour became a compulsory obligation, where young graduates are coerced into a year of servitude under the threats of blackmail, penalties, discrimination, and incarceration.”