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Its Been An Honour!!! (N.Y.S.C)

Posted by cyrilo

In commemoration of my service year….

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is an organisation set up by the Nigerian government to involve the country’s graduates in the development of the country. There is no military conscription in Nigeria, but since 1973 graduates of universities and later Polytechnics have been required to take part in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program for one year. known as national service year.

“Corp” members are posted to cities far from their city of origin. They are expected to mix with people of other tribes, social and family backgrounds, to learn the culture of the indigenes in the place they are posted to. This action is aimed to bring about unity in the country and to help youths appreciate other ethnic groups.

There is an “Orientation” period of approximately three weeks spent in a camp away from family and friends. There is also a “passing out ceremony” at the end of the year and primary assignment followed by one month of vacation.

The program has also helped in creating entry level jobs for a lot of Nigerian youth. An NYSC forum dedicated to the NYSC members was recently built to bridge the gap amongst members serving across Nigeria and also an avenue for corpers to share job information and career resources as well as getting loans from the National Directorate Of Employment.

Sounds interesting yea? Well that’s NYSC as described by Wikipedia. The reality is obviously a whole other ball game, not to say that the past eleven months for me and my colegues has been a waste of time.

Yes it has changed, the concept of the NYSC scheme, where or when we lost track? Well that’s a story for another blog.

From influencing (runs) of posting to manipulation of place of primary assignment (PPA), from allowances being delayed, to allawances due to corp members from their respective PPAs being owed, or is it the fact that some corp members diligently serve their country while others are busy traveling the globe, or sitting in their houses (Monkey dey work baboon dey chop), so much is left to be desired.

All hope is not lost, as there are perks of being a youth corper in Nigeria and you are not ashamed to flaunt it, something ill miss the most is the free pass given by security agents and road traffic officials once you are identified as a corper, and yes the free ride we get most times when adorned in the beautiful NYSC uniform (khaki), more seriously are the array of trainings and professional certifications at our disposal with wonderful discounts to go with it, I must say its an honour to serve abi?

After all said and done, some people took good advantage of this period to grow, develop and harness all they possibly can, while some without the slightest inclination they were serving their father land, not to talk of knowing what comes with National service, but at the end of the day we are all corpers right? (Corper wee!!!)

Today over 90% of us are cleared and wld be certified to have served our father land, amongst us today are thoes that served diligently, thoes without knowlegde of service or serving, and thoes that served in the comfort of their homes, all the same it was a year well spent for me serving my father land in the Federal Ministy of Mines and Steel Development, an on air personality on Aso Radio Fm 93.5 and a volunteer with a number of NGOs, it has brought me joy and fulfilment. Truly its been an honour!!!

Permission To Fallout!!!…..