The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that the scheme has done Nigeria a lot of good and cannot be scrapped as demanded by some citizens.
OsunDaily News understands that the one-year compulsory service scheme for youths after graduation from the University and Polytechnic was founded on May 22nd 1973.
However, there have been calls by some Nigerians recently that the scheme should be scrapped. According to them, it was no longer fulfilling its purpose.
Reacting to the submissions of the citizens, the Director South West Area Office of the NYSC, Amusan Oluwole Julius, said calling for the scraping of the scheme was unnecessary and not the best for Nigeria.
Julius said this while delivering a speech at a Unity Walk organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the scheme in Osun during the weekend.
Speaking on behalf of the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Yushau Dogara Ahmed, Julius reminded Nigerians that a lot had been recorded and achieved in the 50 years of the scheme’s existence.
He acknowledged that though there may be issues in the past, the challenges of the NYSC are not enough to call for its scrapping.
Julius said: “NYSC has done this nation a lot of good. The NYSC is felt in all the 774 local governments in Nigeria.
“Calling for the scrapping is not the best thing anybody can talk of now.
“You will agree that NYSC has made giant strides in the last 50 years.
“When you look back from 1973 when this scheme came into being, areas like education, health care delivery, social service campaigns, national programmes, NYSC has made a lot of impacts in those areas.”
He reiterated that NYSC had met the expectations of its founding fathers.
“When you are talking of fostering national unity, through this scheme, inter-ethnic marriages have occurred, we have seen mobility of labour, corpers being retained in their states of service, many Corpers have established their own businesses in the various states where they are posted,” Julius added noting that the challenges of the NYSC are the same with any other organisation.
“The major problem is the issue of finance that has not been adequate to meet all the needs but kudos need to be given to the government for their inputs in the last 50 years.
“They have been meeting expectations, but there is still a need for improvement in the area of funding,” Julius said.
In his remark, the NYSC, Osun State Coordinator, Agbor Ndoma Obim, stated that activists lined up for the anniversary included a unity walk.
He added that on May 17, other activities for the anniversary would commence.
“We are going to have lectures, symposia and other activities in the area of project commissioning that NYSC members have executed.
“On Friday, there will be a Juma’at service. The week-long activities would end with a church service on Sunday, May 21, 2023.”
He advised youths to be disciplined and listen attentively to the voice of elders and guidance in order to accomplish their life’s goals.
“They should think big and start small. By doing so, things will be better for them,” Daily Post quoted Obim saying.
