The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, has said that corps members are part of the national defence policy of Nigeria and therefore, they can be mobilized for war if that becomes necessary.
The NYSC DG stated this on Wednesday on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme in reaction to moves to scrap the NYSC scheme which is mandatory for all Nigerian graduates.
Ibrahim said, “Corps members are on reserve. They are part of the national defence policy of this country. So, where there is serious war, our corps members are educated, they are knowledgeable and they can be trained. You see the drill and so on.
“You can imagine within the short three weeks in the orientation camps, the corps members are molded. They are like soldiers. You see female corps members blowing the army horn, playing with the military band.
“So, if not for the knowledge, where are you going to mobilize such young Nigerians to train them quickly to put in their best for the country? So, corps members are on reserve. They are also part of the national defence policy.”
He argued that NYSC had become more important than ever in the face of the rising calls for secession and that corps members had played a huge role in educating children, especially in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps.
According to him, the insecurity in the country was not enough reason to scrap the scheme, adding that till date, 75 per cent of corps members are still serving in rural areas across the country.
Ibrahim also revealed that he had made a proposal for a National Youth Trust Fund (NYTF) through which loans would be given to corps members to start businesses after completing the mandatory programme.
The NYSC boss pointed out that several corps member had also found love in the course of carrying out their assignment in their various places of posting.
“There are a lot of inter-marriages. For most of our females, the history of their marriages can be traced to their service year because they meet their fiancées during their service year. I have had cause to attend such weddings and the NYSC supports such weddings,” he added.
