NYSC IN NIGERIA
After the brutal murder of 10 youth corpers in Bauchi Nigeria it is a thing of wonder if this exercise is really worth read below
NIGERIA: Protestesr question relevance of youth corps
Story:
Activists protesting the deaths of National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) members in post election violence in April are questioning the existance of the service in mordern day Nigeria.
A group of young men and women recently took part in a demonstration in the commercial city of Lagos carrying placards and photographs of loved ones killed in service.
Rioting erupted in cities in the mostly Muslim north after President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, was declared the winner of elections, which observers said were the country's most credible for decades.
Human Rights Watch on Monday (May 16) said more than 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in three days of violence following the election.
Some of those caught up in the violence included NYSC deployed to assist with the elections. There were nine confirmed deaths in the youth corps and scores were injured.
Collins Eleje, a member of the NYSC said he and his colleagues narrowly escaped death when angry protesters carrying sticks, stones and machetes attacked their post.
"The only option they had at that point in time was to run to was to the nearest police station for safety but we that stayed in the GRA (Government Reserved Area) lodge we were so lucky... you know... one of the mallams (local Muslim leader) that is a teacher in that particular school where we were, took us into his house," Eleje said.
Vivian Emmanuel struggles with the reality of her friend's death -- the best man at her wedding just a year ago. Twenty eight-year-old Ikechukwu Ukeoma a Medical Microbiology graduate, was just starting his mandatory year of youth service in the predominantly muslim northern state of Bauchi when the riots broke out.
"Is this IK we are talking about, that he is dead... I still can't believe that he is dead," she said.
Formed through a military decree in 1973, the NYSC is a mandatory enlisting for both men and women. It was created to promote national unity at the end of the Nigerian-Biafran war by bringing youths from different ethnicity and religion together, whilst getting them involved in the country's development.
The program is also said to have helped members gain entry level jobs in government institutions.
Ihuoma Obibi, a human rights activist with Alliance for Africa says the service exposes youth to unnecessary dangers.
"In the last few years we have had an increase in the number of deaths of young youth 'corpers' fulfilling a national obligation, a requirement for employment because if you don't do it you don't get employment, even if you are going to work in the private sector," said Obibi.
The NYSC involvement in the election was hailed as one of the reasons the process went smoothly in many parts of the country but Obibi said the youth became targets and were seen by those questioning the results as the enemy.
She said although the service may have served a purpose soon after the country's civil war, it has no place in Nigeria today.
"As we have passed the 20th century, we have a young population that actually know nothing about the war, know nothing about unity and the only thing they know about Nigeria is the constant tension between various ethnic groups which almost borders on ethnic cleansing. Within this context, the NYSC is almost irrelevant," she said.
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the killings of the youth corps members and the government has set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the deaths.
Nigeria has been haunted for years by sporadic ethnic and religious unrest that has killed thousands due to differences carried forward from the end of the civil war.
A group of young men and women recently took part in a demonstration in the commercial city of Lagos carrying placards and photographs of loved ones killed in service.
Rioting erupted in cities in the mostly Muslim north after President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, was declared the winner of elections, which observers said were the country's most credible for decades.
Human Rights Watch on Monday (May 16) said more than 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in three days of violence following the election.
Some of those caught up in the violence included NYSC deployed to assist with the elections. There were nine confirmed deaths in the youth corps and scores were injured.
Collins Eleje, a member of the NYSC said he and his colleagues narrowly escaped death when angry protesters carrying sticks, stones and machetes attacked their post.
"The only option they had at that point in time was to run to was to the nearest police station for safety but we that stayed in the GRA (Government Reserved Area) lodge we were so lucky... you know... one of the mallams (local Muslim leader) that is a teacher in that particular school where we were, took us into his house," Eleje said.
Vivian Emmanuel struggles with the reality of her friend's death -- the best man at her wedding just a year ago. Twenty eight-year-old Ikechukwu Ukeoma a Medical Microbiology graduate, was just starting his mandatory year of youth service in the predominantly muslim northern state of Bauchi when the riots broke out.
"Is this IK we are talking about, that he is dead... I still can't believe that he is dead," she said.
Formed through a military decree in 1973, the NYSC is a mandatory enlisting for both men and women. It was created to promote national unity at the end of the Nigerian-Biafran war by bringing youths from different ethnicity and religion together, whilst getting them involved in the country's development.
The program is also said to have helped members gain entry level jobs in government institutions.
Ihuoma Obibi, a human rights activist with Alliance for Africa says the service exposes youth to unnecessary dangers.
"In the last few years we have had an increase in the number of deaths of young youth 'corpers' fulfilling a national obligation, a requirement for employment because if you don't do it you don't get employment, even if you are going to work in the private sector," said Obibi.
The NYSC involvement in the election was hailed as one of the reasons the process went smoothly in many parts of the country but Obibi said the youth became targets and were seen by those questioning the results as the enemy.
She said although the service may have served a purpose soon after the country's civil war, it has no place in Nigeria today.
"As we have passed the 20th century, we have a young population that actually know nothing about the war, know nothing about unity and the only thing they know about Nigeria is the constant tension between various ethnic groups which almost borders on ethnic cleansing. Within this context, the NYSC is almost irrelevant," she said.
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the killings of the youth corps members and the government has set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the deaths.
Nigeria has been haunted for years by sporadic ethnic and religious unrest that has killed thousands due to differences carried forward from the end of the civil war.
culled from: www.itnsource.com
