Don’t scrap NYSC – Corps members plead with FG

Some youth corps members have added their voice to the rank of those appealing to the Federal Government not to scrap the National Youth Service Corps scheme. They argued that the merits of the NYSC scheme overwhelmed its perceived disadvantages.
A cross section of corps members that had just completed their service year with the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said that the objectives of the founding fathers of the scheme should be sustained.
They said that the NYSC had been serving as a unifying factor for all Nigerians.
The corps members bared their minds during Batch ‘B’ send-forth ceremony organised for them by the university.
The outgone Internal Corpers’ Liaison Officer, Mr. Michael Dogara, from Kaduna State said that the scheme should not be scrapped because it had afforded many young people the opportunity to have rich ideas about the culture, food, dressing and language of people from other geo-political zones of the country.
Dogara said, “My service year in Abeokuta was a wonderful experience. The scheme gave me the opportunity to stay here for a year. I think the scheme should continue”.
For Mr. Bello Abdulrahman from Kogi State, the environmental condition and people of the SouthWest areas of Nigeria, particularly, Abeokuta, were friendlier when compared with that of his home state, noting that the cost of living was low.
Abdulrahman added that he might not have known about these and other vital information if not for the mandatory service year.
Mr. Adikwu Okoh from Benue State commended the peaceful atmosphere in the university and the city (Abeokuta), at large.
“FUNAAB and Ogun State are peaceful. The people are also good and peaceful. I love them for that,” he said.
Majority of the youth corps members, however, called on the Federal Government to consider increasing their monthly allowance.
They also made case for conducive locations as their Place of Primary Assignment to make the service year worthwhile, productive and encouraging. Meanwhile, the youth corps members recently posted to the university have been urged to be productive during their service year in order to make it worthwhile.
The FUNAAB Director of Zoological Garden, Dr. Moses Oyatogun, who also spoke at the sendforth ceremony, said that the corps members deployed to the Zoological Garden had learnt well and adapted very fast to the zoo, thereby contributing their quota tothe development of the country.