RE: NYSC N4,000 FEE FOR CALL-UP LETTER; TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. In my usual rummage for news and other articles of interest, I stumbled on the news about the introduction of a prohibitive sum of N4, 000 for Call-Up letters to be paid by supposedly unemployed graduates patriotically answering a national call to service. Now, I am not nearly as peeved about the amount as I am with the mere fact of having to pay a dime to commit nearly 365 days of ones life to a country for free. Not to dwell on the merits or demerits of the scheme which started in 1973 with lofty ideals of unity and national cohesion is far from achieving those goals. Sadly but truly, our country is a lot more divided today than before the advent of NYSC, needless to mention the countless casualties that have been made of corps members and inherent dangers they live in. From religious crisis, carnages on our highways to poor living conditions. Need one say that in those yeo-days of our fathers we were told and even saw for ourselves how princely corps members were treated. How they barely spent their allowee on any necessaries but luxuries as natives and residents alike spared them their livelihoods, free transportatation, accomodation, did their chores, provided them entertainment of all sorts. Some even prodded them to marry and raise homes there. These are not fairy tales but verifiable history. Today, the picture is a complete circle of the opposite. Todays KOPA has to fend for himself from A-Z and still has to contend with scorn, derision and sometimes cold hate, one begins to wonder what is the KOPAs crime? Personally I am still in that state of bewilderment. Could it be the weight of a sagging economy, inflation or the sheer lack of value being added to the lives of generations of KOPAS. Could it just be that Nigerians are tired of seeing strangers pop up at their backyards every other deployment season? Could it just be that citizens no longer see the relevance of the scheme or simply do not see the impact of the scheme in their communities? Enough of the digressions, though I thought them necessary. Scientists say for every action there is a reaction; an effect for every cause but it does seem there might well be exceptions to that general rule as it is the wont of lawyers and the contradiction of the law, the reason detre why perhaps the law is called an ass. Now why this quotes? Sometime last year, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) embarked on an exercise, permit me to say, a dubious one, to recruit persons into the Service. It tunred out folks had to pay to stand a chance; they got more than they bargianed for, they were exploited, the sham process bungled and lives and limbs were lost. Well, I like many others, I suspect are still waiting for the outcome of inquiries, if theres any. We are still waiting for the return of the jury. Pray its not a Runaway Jury. Affected families still wait for some semblance of justice. Some axing, some firing, if you like, some soothing. I would rather err on the path of optimism and hope that the Cause and Effect theory or is it principle, would hold through. As if the loud silence and the Lets dust ourselves up and move on attitude has become the requisite impetus for other MDAs to follow suit, the NYSC has predictably heaped more loads on the beasts of burden that Nigerians nay KOPAS have become. I think this regime of fees for everything under any and every guise must be discouraged and spoken against. The DG of NYSC, Olawunmi has sought to justify, in my view feebly, the fees in the name of internet or e-NYSC. To my mind, this is a pointer that much as the idea of getting ones Call-up letter by a click is overdue, even belated, the prospective KOPA cannot be, in fairness, made to pay for such, talk less of a whooping N4, 000 just to print a Call-up Letter! Even if it was a heavenly call-up! Heba!!! It is obvious that the Scheme has grave funding challenges which they barely scrape through with every other Service Year. Most of the Orientation Camps are hardly better than Nigerian prisons, to give a hint. One is tempted to ask a few questions and proffer a few possible solutions: 1. Is the NYSC finally incapacitated financially 2. Is the NYSC still attaining its statutory mandate? 3. Is NYSC on the verge of liberalization or privatization (albeit in substance not in form)?. In all, I think the NYSC can maintain its national formation but as already being done covertly (where NYSC goes cap in hands to States for practically everything) should be rejigged, restructured from its enabling Act to its structure to its funding components and many more. Get the buy-in of the federating States in a frank reform exercise. Truth be told, the financial burden and even efficient co-ordination is a big-ask on the FG. I believe that the NYSC DG and his team of administrators can be more creative than cheaply passing the buck to the prospective KOPA. I hereby unreservedly lend my voice to the legion of dissenting voices calling for the IMMEDIATE REVERSAL of the oppressive charges!
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:58:49 +0000
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