The August 19 abduction of eight members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on a highway in Zamfara State was a sad reminder of the dangers facing young graduates, whose lives are being endangered needlessly by the leadership of the NYSC who post them to danger zones.
Despite the high level of insecurity on the roads across the country, NYSC has continued to sustain its old policy of posting corps members to states that are hundreds of kilometres away from their state of origin.
It is shocking that while bandits, terrorists and kidnappers are ravaging many parts of the country, the NYSC leadership has not considered it a priority to rethink its posting policy and post corps members to the states nearest to their state of origin to reduce the long distances they have to travel by road to their orientation camps and places of primary assignments.
When the government is unwittingly encouraging privileged Nigerians to skip the NYSC by appointing those who did not do the mandatory one-year service into political offices, the NYSC leadership is exposing the less-privileged graduates to avoidable dangers as if the one-year service is a do-or-die exercise.
NYSC has become so insensitive to the safety of young graduates that it does not see anything wrong in posting indigenes of Akwa Ibom State, for instance, to Sokoto State, a distance of hundreds more than 1,200 kilometres by road.
Despite the frightening level of insecurity in the North-west states where bandits occupy the highways to kidnap for ransom, the NYSC still posts graduates to the states in the zone as was the practice when all parts of the country were peaceful and long-distance travel by road, even at night, was very exciting and fun-filled.
Many Nigerians were not surprised that some young graduates suffered the consequences of NYSC’s act of indiscretion on Saturday, August 19, 2023 when eight corps members travelling inside an AKTC bus from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to Sokoto State, were abducted on a highway in Zamfara State.
Analysts would think that with the highways across the country becoming increasingly unsafe, graduates from Akwa Ibom State, for instance, should be posted to the neighbouring states to avoid the life-threatening dangers associated with long-distance travel by road.
While the children of the rich and the powerful can influence their postings to safer and more secure states, the children of the less-privileged Nigerians are made to suffer the consequences of these thoughtless postings to danger zones.
This was the case of the eight unfortunate corps members who apparently could not afford the cost of travelling by air.
It was not surprising that the father of one of them, Mr. Emmanuel Etteh, last Monday accused the NYSC of showing no concern towards the plight of the abducted graduates.
His daughter, Glory Thomas, was one of the eight abducted graduates.
In a live appearance on national television, Etteh described the over two-week-long ordeal as devastating, alleging that the authorities had failed to communicate with the parents.
He said: “It is very devastating because, as a parent, I am very disappointed by the government. No one has been talking about or asking questions since this incident happened
“Security agencies are not caring; NYSC leadership shows no concern, and everyone behaves as if nothing happened.”
Ette noted that “NYSC invited these children out of their homes to Sokoto.”
He added that NYSC had not cared to reach out to the parents or discuss the situation.
Etteh’s frustration also stemmed from the fact that the bandits had earlier demanded a ransom of N4 million for the release of his daughter.
“They called me with their line; they asked me to pay N4 million. I spoke with my daughter because I asked how they wanted us to pay; she said we should contact the AKTC,” he reportedly said.
The NYSC also displayed its insensitivity in its response to the abduction when it blamed the corps members for travelling after 6p.m.
NYSC Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, argued on national television that the corps members might not have been abducted if they had adhered to the corps’ warning against travelling beyond 6p.m. According to him, the organisation had advised corps members against embarking on night journeys.
Megwa said: “Let’s not look at the NYSC as if we are living in a different world. NYSC is part of Nigerian society. You and I know the kind of security situation we have in the country; it is not selective; some students are kidnapped at a point, government officials, even young children at primary and nursery schools are kidnapped.
“So NYSC or corps members are not living in a different world, but we have made it categorically clear. We told our corps members please don’t travel at night. In their call up letters, we stated this clearly. We said please anywhere you are, once it is 6pm cut short your trip.
“Find a park, police station, military barracks or corps lodge or anywhere you think is safe. Park and continue your journey tomorrow,” he reportedly explained.
Megwa’s response represents the height of insensitivity.
If the NYSC actually realised the frightening level of insecurity in the country as Megwa claimed, it shouldn’t have sent young Nigerians from Akwa Ibom State to Sokoto State. Which management staff of the NYSC, including Megwa or the NYSC Director General will allow their children to do NYSC in Sokoto State or Zamfara State or Niger State?
The NYSC should blame itself for risking the lives of young Nigerians by insisting that they should go all the way from Akwa Ibom State to Sokoto State for a national assignment they could easily do in the neighbouring states.
The former Chairman of the Committee on Prosecution of Bandits Related Offences in Zamfara State, Sani Shinkafi, last week asked the NYSC, to stop posting corps members to some states bedevilled by bandit attacks.
Shinkafi, who spoke in an interview on national television, said: “I’m calling on the leadership of NYSC to stop posting youth corps members to Sokoto, Kebbi, and even Zamfara.”
NYSC should stop risking the lives of graduates by posting them to bandits-ravaged states. Corps members should also be posted to states nearest to their state of origin until the security situation in the country returns to normal.
thisday