He discusses the role of Corps members in leadership development and greater aspiration for Nigeria.
“When the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was established in the wake of the Civil War, its understood function was to foster rounded unity and development among the various peoples of Nigeria. The vision was to Go On With One Nigeria (GOWON). This vision has since been relegated and diminished in the seemingly unending war of attrition for supremacy.
“However, it is still possible to put NYSC on the path of purpose, despite the calls from various quarters for the abolition of the ‘obsolete’ NYSC scheme.
“In keeping with purpose, Corps members are believed to be the next generation of leaders. It is a sad fact that men who wielded political power when I was a child still hold on stubbornly to the reins of power. Awolowo, Gowon, Ojukwu and so on were prominent political figures in Nigeria by their early thirties. Where do we find such young men today if those who were young yesterday refuse to become elder statesmen lending advice to young leaders today? Why were we told in primary school that we were the ‘leaders of tomorrow’—a forlorn hope of a tomorrow that never happens? The NYSC scheme was created as a veritable platform to train the people who are next in line for leadership in Nigeria. How so?
“One way this happens is by creating a national outlook for the youth. It is in the spirit of a national identity that Corps members are usually posted far away from their former habitations. It means that Corps members should be thrown into unfamiliar terrain to taste the heterogeneity of Nigeria. By the end of the service year, a typical Corps member is believed to have become a total Nigerian,a detribalized entity ready to see a Nigerian not as a tribesperson or a religious adherent from a different camp. It follows, then, that intertribal marriage is encouraged (which, of course, makes it easier to accept a cross-country marriage) as the blurred lines of tribal-religious bigotry give way to a national consciousness. A Nigerian is thus created, able to lead and sire Nigerians, who, as generations progress, are unconscious of having any special roots because their family tree is drawn from virtually the whole country, not just from a particular region, state or clan. This is the socio-cultural face of nation building by the scheme.
“There is also an economic side to the role of NYSC in leadership and nation-building. It is networking. It is connection. It is friendship. Jim Ovia, founder and CEO of Visafone Network and former Managing Director of Zenith Bank, once said that he got some of his business ideas from a friend he met during his service year. That is the kind of connection that can create the Nigeria we want. We usually speak of technology transfer from developed countries, but how about seeking same within Nigeria itself? The South is apparently more developed than the North, so nothing says Corps members from the South cannot be assisted to replicate in the North the development of the South. We have to admit that it is relatively easy now to work anywhere in Nigeria—apart from those problematic areas in the Northeast, that is. Seeing as schools in the North are almost entirely dependent on Corps members for teaching staff, there is no reason why incentives should not be put in place to make it attractive for Corps members to desire to stay on after their service year to continue the good work. Only Corps members bred in tertiary institutions can provide practicable answers to the question of economic development in the North.
“With economic development comes a new political orientation. He may not have done everything right, but the late Odumegwu Ojukwu had one thing going for him: he refused to be taken for granted. Only Corps members, having a whole view of the country, can take positions in government with a picture of the future. It takes an educated mind to think and develop solutions to the teething problems of Nigeria. It takes an educated mind to see the problem as it really is and ask questions of the authorities in Nigeria as to why our dear country is hampered by stunted growth. It makes sense to see that Nigerians are becoming less gullible by the day, and it takes the Corps members of today to take a stand and begin to show, within a year, strong solution-oriented leadership as evidence that this generation can make things better if given a chance. Nigeria will stand a better stead of being respected in the world if she can harness the potentials of her Corps members because they are drawn from tertiary institutions. It is such people who should become political appointees. If Nuhu Ribadu, a Northerner, could become the presidential flag bearer for the then All Progressives Congress (ACN), a largely Southwest party, then we could have someone from a part of the country being a vice-chancellor in a university in another part. Continuing in this way will put paid to the ‘zoning’ system causing rancour in political parties at the moment.
“All of this is not to say that we cannot respect our differences. The purpose of the NYSC scheme is to highlight the differences among our various peoples and help enlighten our ignorance and illuminate our darkness. We say many of our indigenous languages are disappearing, but who says Corps members cannot be paid to reduce many more of these languages to writing so that our languages don’t get lost? In one year, the government can do a lot because Corps members belong to them—which is the reason why we are used to sustain sanity during elections. Only an appreciation of the differences amongst our various peoples can create the kind of harmony that in turn leads to sustainable development.
“If Nigeria can raise leaders who understand her peculiarities and work in unison with one another in various sectors and at different levels of operation, then it won’t be long before the synergy created by the bond of Corps members who have had just about similar experiences of the country and can form a think-tank to brainstorm on how the run the wheel of progress in our favour. Gradually, Nigeria can work her way to the top and sit in a leading position in the comity of nations. It all begins by giving attention to the sorry state of the education sector, because that sector contains the Corps-producing institutions. Today, we must decide to show the government why education should be given priority in budgetary allocation as a first step to making the NYSC scheme fulfil the purpose for which it was created.”
By :Clement Ejiofor