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•2012 Batch 'B' Corps members returning from parade rehearsal at the FCT Orientation Camp, Kubwa, Abuja ....yesterday•Reps support protesters •NYSC: no cause for alarm The outrage over the postings of graduates to volatile states by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) continued yesterday, with the House of Representatives, Lagos lawmakers, students of the Lagos State University and prominent Nigerians kicking against the move, report Oziegbe Okoeki, DELE ANOFI and Bukola Amusan, Abuja
Is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) not concerned about the safety of graduates posted to trouble spots for the mandatory one-year service? This was the concern of many Nigerians yesterday as the commission insisted the Corps members posted to the North are safe.
The NYSC, in a statement by its media manager, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, said necessary security measures have been put in place.
Mrs. Abosede said: “This is to inform all 2012 Batch ‘B’ Corps Members and the general public that state governments and the NYSC operators have put in place measures to guarantee the security to lives and properties of corps members deployed to camps for the on-going orientation course.
“Prospective Corps members should therefore proceed to their respective camps for induction into the noble scheme.
“However, those who have genuine reasons to seek for relocation out of their states of posting, should register first in their states of deployment and then submit application there for consideration.
“The two grounds for consideration remain marital (for those who are married) and health (for those with extreme medical ailments).”
The statement informend that the coordinators have been empowered to attend to relocation requests.
The House of Representatives said it was wrong of NYSC to insist graduates must serve in trouble spots.
The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion by Peter Edeh (ANPP, Ebonyi) , who said the NYSC should be directed against deploying Corps members to the crisis-ridden states.
Eden said: "It would be callous to allow innocent children to be posted to places where they don't know what to do in times of trouble.
"Let us do what is practical. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) says security and welfare should be the primary concern of government.
"Local extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram has been largely responsible for sustained terror campaigns in many parts of Northern Nigeria, including the country's capital, Abuja."
Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Plateau) noted that 2011 post election violence in some parts of the North led to loss of lives of scores of Corps members that were drafted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as ad-hoc staff to man polling centres.
The Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos), said the government might not be able to stand the traffic of litigations, if it decided to pursue NYSC postings to violence prone states.
He said: "If some states are temporarily left out in view of their security challenges, it does not affect the objectives of the NYSC Act."
Those who argued against the motion said it would set a negative precedence for future postings.
It was agreed that Corps members willing to serve in troubled states should be allowed.
Constitutional lawyer, Mr Fred Agbaje and Chief Maxi Okwu yesterday urged the Federal Government to intervene in the deployment of NYSC members to troubled states.
Agbaje told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that he was in support of Corps members refusing their postings to the trouble spots.
He said: “If I was a young graduate, I will do the same. As a parent, I will never allow my children to serve in such areas where it is obvious that the security of the Corps members cannot be guaranteed.
“In America, the citizens are ready to die for their country because America can go to any length to make the required sacrifice to protect one of its own.’’
He said families of Corps members that were victims of the insecurity in North during the political crisis of 2011 were yet to be adequately compensated.
According to him, the protesting Corps members should be re-deployed to other parts of the country where there is relative peace, rather than be forced to areas that had claimed so many lives.
Okwu, who is also the national coordinator of the Patriotic Alliance of Nigeria (PAN), said the NYSC decision could not be final.
He said: “The Federal Government should direct the Minister of Education to overrule the NYSC on the matter. It is heartless and insensitive to insist that these innocent youths go and serve in trouble spots in disregard of the current continued killings in those states.”
The KOWA Party has called on the Federal Government to stop the deployment of the Corps members to the troubled states, pending when the security situation in those areas improved.
Its national public relations officer, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya, said the lives of Corps members could not be guaranteed in the midst of the atrocities of the Boko Haram Sect in some Northern states.
She said: “The Federal Government should post these corps members to other states in the federation where there is peace, or let them stay back in their respective home states-states.’’
The Lagos State House of Assembly also protested the posting of Corps members from the South to the North. It has written a letter to NYSC management to rescind the decision. The lawmakers, in a resolution at the plenary on Monday, condemned the posting.
The House urged the NYSC management “to post all graduates meant for the NYSC scheme out of the troublesome states in Nigeria where there is violence and threat to life.”
The House yesterday hosted graduates of Lagos State University (LASU) who staged a peaceful protest over their posting to the North.
One of the students posted to Taraba State, Lai Adebayo, said it is unfortunate that NYSC management could post students from Southwest to crisis-prone areas, considering large number of Corps members that were killed recently.
He said: "We are the future of tomorrow. So, we don't want to die before our time and that is why we protested to the Assembly. Members of the House and Governor Babatunde Fashola should as a matter of urgency intervene for us to be redeployed back to our state."
Adebayo said many lives were lost in Taraba State, where he is posted to.
Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter, Comrade Sessi Funmi who accompanied the students, appealed to members of the House not to allow youths from the Southwest to be posted to the North.
She said: "Most of them are not familiar with that area and in the process they can get into trouble with Boko Haram crisis. Our youths must not be sacrificed and that is why we reject the posting. Let them post the students to Abuja or other areas that are free from crisis."
She presented a letter of protest to the chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Alawiye King representing Lagos Island 2.
Responding, Alawiye-King assured them that the House would ensure they were not forced to serve in the North.
One of the parents, Isaiah Odiurho, appealed to the Lagos State government to assist them.
He said: "My son was posted to Taraba and I don't want him to die now, so government should assist us. We are not saying they should not serve but we don't want them sent to crisis prone areas."
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions, such as: "Do we look like soldiers? Many graduates were killed" and "LASU says no posting to Northern states among others."
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