Three fundamental reasons FG should scrap NYSC — Lawmaker

A member of the House of Representatives, Awaji-Inombek Abiante has sponsored a bill to discontinue the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.

Abiante, who is representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro constituency in the 9th National Assembly, said the NYSC has outlived its purpose calling on the Federal Government to scrap the scheme.

The military regime of General Yakubu Gowon had established the NYSC on May 22, 1973, under Decree No. 24 of 1973 as a way of reconciling and reintegrating Nigerians after the civil war which was fought between July 6, 1967, and January 15, 1970.

However, the lawmaker, in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal presented to the green chamber, listed the various reasons the scheme should be scrapped.

His reasons include;

• Incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism, and ethnic violence; incessant kidnapping of innocent corps members across the country.
• Public and private agencies/departments are no longer recruiting able and qualified Nigerian youths, thus relying heavily on the availability of corps members who are not being well remunerated and get discarded with impunity at the end of their service year without any hope of being gainfully employed.
• Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps management now considers posting corps members to their geopolitical zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps, i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration.

Source: Vanguard News