By John Oba
Late revolutionary leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, said in 1953 that, “history will absolve me”. This is perfectly true of late former Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Brigadier General, Yusuf Bomoi.
Bomoi’s reign brought fresh air to the scheme. He left an indelible impact that influenced generations and generations yet to come.
Born on January 1957 to Mr. and Mrs. Idris Bomoi in Potiskum, Potiskum local government area of Yobe State. General Bomoi, who was the second ex-corps member to head the NYSC scheme and the 13th NYSC DG from October 2004 to 2009, surpassed expectations.
Like the Olympic touch that is kindled by the light of the sun and its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror, the life and time of General Bomoi at the helm of affairs in the NYSC lit up the scheme and the rays will continue to radiate even after his death. He revived the scheme, beaming it rays of importance across all strata of stakeholders thereby silencing pessimists who ignorantly questioned the usefulness of the scheme.
With his welfarist principle, late Bomoi made landmark achievements. When he took over the leadership of the scheme, as a seasoned administrator, Bomoi moved the directorate headquarters of the scheme to the permanent site in Maitama, Abuja.
A thorough bred military officer whose unchequered career spanned many years of meritorious service, Bomoi went further to resuscitate several NYSC moribund programmes such as the President’s NYSC Honours award, the NYSC Sport/Cultural Festival, Corps Forum, and initiated the structural empowerment of the NYSC zonal offices. The scheme witnessed the construction and commission of ultra modern orientation camps such as Osun State orientation camp, Katsina camp, among others.
Bomoi embarked on national advocacy visit to states and local governments with the aim of bringing the scheme to all Nigerians. As a charismatic leader, Bomoi relied on the media as a means of addressing the public with occurrences in the scheme, instilling in the minds of Nigerians the prime place of the scheme in uniting the nation.
A chief servant par excellence, Bomoi gave corps members a listening ear. He broke the bureaucratic barrier between his executive position and the corps members, instilling in them a sense of belonging as he visited orientation camps throughout the federation to ensure that the corps members’ welfare is prioritised.
His laudable contributions can be seen from many corps members’ projects in the rural areas as he prompted the corps members to take their community of primary assignment as theirs.
He also worked for the increment of corps members’ allowances and those of staff. Hence, corps members’ welfare was at its peak during his time; he made it a foremost priority of his administration. This was unprecedented as the scheme has never had it that good.
Though like every other human institution there were challenges, which he inherited. The challenges include having befitting orientation camps and secretariats in the different states. All these made him to engage the state governments, soliciting their support while enlightening them on their responsibility towards the scheme, since it is the responsibility of the state government to provide orientation camps and secretariat for the scheme.
Such visits yielded a lot of dividends as states like Katsina under the leadership of late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua built one of the best ultra modern orientation camps for the NYSC in the state. Osun state also constructed a permanent camp for the scheme which was commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It is also on record that the problem of corps members’ rejection by both public and private organisations was reduced to the barest minimum. He engaged all stakeholders at a first of its kind NYSC stakeholders’ conference in Lagos to enlighten all employers on the extant rules binding them to accept corps members.
Bomoi also brought to fore the meek and compassionate side of him during the sectarian crisis in Jos, Plateau state that resulted in the death of some corps members. He relocated his office to the state to ensure that all corps members in the state are secure and took it upon himself to ensure that the demised corps members were given befitting burial while he visited their families to condole with them.
Bomoi came into the scheme when embargo was placed on promotion and employment because of some administrative problems. But with his leadership acumen, he tackled the administrative problems, paving the way for many staff to get their double promotion while over 1000 senior staff were employed. This endeared him to the staff.
To many, one motivating factor was his closeness to God that made him to predicate all his decision on the fear of God, as he always reiterated that he will give account of all his actions to God.
Bomoi left a mark that would be difficult to erase from the history of the scheme. His coming into the scheme was a divine plan to make the scheme realise its importance and for Nigerians to see the potentials in the scheme for national development.
Oba writes from Abuja
