BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has called for the amendment of the National Youth Service Corps Act to provide for the recruitment of corp members into the police and military to fight Boko Haram and banditry.
Fayemi, who doubles as the Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, said in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital that one of the ways of addressing the worsening insecurity in the country was by recruiting more personnel into the police and military.
He called for the provision of a special arrangement that would make orientation camps training grounds for graduates willing to join the police or the military.
He suggested, however, that corps members who refused to join military services should be allowed to serve in their respective communities without pay.
He said, “By available statistics, we need minimum of 200,000 personnel to boost the fighting power of our men. This number is very large and a potential financial and logistic nightmare, yet we cannot delay any further.
“The ungoverned spaces needed to be closed up quickly by motivating men with singular objective to save the nation.
“That takes us to the number two issue of financing and arming large recruitment. With this, we can use the existing orientation camps to train willing and able graduates to reflate the security personnel under a special arrangement that will be worked out.
“That way, the fund that is currently deployed to the NYSC can be used with just some additional funding, which could be sourced through a national emergency fund for the next five to 10 years.
“Those who cannot join the military services can serve in their community without pay, if we must still retain the NYSC for everyone.
“To incentivize those who may volunteer to serve, they will have a separate certificate and medal of honour in addition to having priority for military, paramilitary and civil or public service recruitment after service. We also need to encourage investment in the real sectors that can engage people and reduce unemployment, which is a major source of insecurity.
“It is time to build a nation and not to fritter it away, and stop playing the blame game and opportunistic opposition.”
Fayemi added that the country needed patriotic statesmen and women and not rumour mongers, ethnic crisis entrepreneurs and provincial men of little minds who see everything from the perspective of ethnicity and religion.
