NYSC, Gowon and imperatives of national development

Nigeria, like most nation-states in post-colonial Africa, is in dire need of unity, cohesion and national integration. This is largely because of the arbitrary demarcation of boundaries that divided people of the same history and descent while forcefully uniting them with people of different historical and socio-cultural affinities as a country. This colonial interference created potency for the sustained mutual suspicion among nationalities in most post-colonial nation-states.

In the case of Nigeria, this already shaky foundation was further affected more deeply and negatively by the civil war that lasted for almost three years. And to confront this degeneration in our already fractured federation , the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowoni in 1973 – three years after the civil war – decided to establish the NYSC in order to foster and promote national unity and integration, reconcile and rebuild the nation.

It can therefore be said that the shaky foundation of our unity, coupled with the unfortunate event of the civil war; with its attendant negative effects on our oneness as a nation, necessitated the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps by Decree No.24 of May 22, 1973, primarily with a view to encouraging and developing common ties among the youths of Nigeria. 

Since then many of the Nigerians who have participated in the Scheme and other critical observers can bear witness to the positive impacts and benefits the NYSC has brought in all spheres of our national life, especially in the faithful and dedicated discharge of its core mandate of fostering unity, integration and national cohesion.

These positive impacts are evident in the level of friendship that has been cultivated across religious and cultural divides as a result of the platform provided by the NYSC scheme. It is to the unequalled credit of this Scheme that inter-marriages have been facilitated across the length and breadth of Nigeria. Today, many families in the East have in-laws from the North and families from the West have in-laws from the South and vice versa.

The contributions and achievements of the NYSC are also glaring in the area of community development projects. Many corps members have written their names indelibly in the hearts of many Nigerians in the communities where they have served by their positive impacts and selfless services. Many communities in Nigeria now have health facilities and other basic amenities, courtesy of the NYSC members who served in such places.

Simply put, the Scheme has impacted positively on almost all facets of our national life and more on the corps members themselves who are usually launched into the  next stage in life and equipped  with the necessary experiences needed to excel in their chosen career paths.

It is pertinent at this juncture to commend the foresight and patriotic leadership of the former Head of State,  Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who conceived and courageously established the Scheme as a major platform for unity and national integration. The focus on the youth who embody the future of our nation shows the futuristic character of the NYSC programme. Today, majority of Nigerians occupying various leadership positions are direct beneficiaries of the Scheme and are living witnesses to the unifying potency of the NYSC.

Speaking recently during the commissioning of NYSC Television and Radio Stations in Abuja, Gen. Gowon acknowledged that the Scheme has achieved its core mandate and has impacted positively on the nation. In his words:  “There is no gainsaying the fact that the Scheme has, in almost five decades of its existence, successfully harnessed the potentials of our graduate youths as models for defining patriotism, credible and quality leadership as well as economic regeneration.”  Our nation will ever remain grateful to Gen. Yakubu Gowon for such great legacy even to generations yet unborn. 

In the same light, I wish to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of the successive heads of the Scheme, who in reference to the core mandate of the NYSC, have each delivered excellent leadership within the confines of their job description and resources at their disposal. The sustenance and continuous relevance of the Scheme is attributable reasonably to their respective contributions. The history of the Scheme will always reserve a place of honour for all who have served the nation in that capacity in the past.  

Standing on the shoulders of his illustrious predecessors, the current DG of the NYSC, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Shaiubu, has demonstrated ingenuity and uncommon leadership qualities that have surpassed every expected performance indices and has comparatively taken the Scheme completely to another level of advancement in response to current realities and dynamics of the 21st century.

He has turned around the NYSC and repositioned it to discharge its core mandate with unmatched drive towards community and national integration. Amidst several other achievements, innovations and quality addition, it is imperative to single out the recent inauguration of the NYSC Television and Radio Stations situated at the National Directorate Headquarters of the NYSC in Maitama, Abuja by its founding father, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

While commissioning the Television and Radio Stations, General Gowon praised the initiative and acknowledged the importance of the media outfits, especially towards effective information dissemination and wider global outreach as well as serving as a platform for driving the core mandate of national unity, cohesion and collective prosperity for all and sundry.

It is important to reiterate the fact that the NYSC has remained more relevant today than ever before. Nigeria as a country is in dire need of national cohesion and unity now as it was before and after the civil war. Agents of disunity and destabilization are emerging on daily basis from different parts of the country. The modest achievements of NYSC in fostering unity are daily being threatened.

 As such, this development rather calls for more funding and support to the Scheme to scale up their drive for national unity and integration. This is even compelling because even the core mandate of the Scheme is defined primarily to inculcate in Nigerian Youths the spirit of selfless service to the community, and to emphasise the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background. The history of our country since independence has clearly indicated the need for unity amongst all our people and demonstrated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity can exist in isolation. This is the fact I have acknowledged earlier about almost all the countries in Post-colonial Africa as a result of arbitrary creation of national boundaries without recourse to historical and ethnic ties.

…Solomon Semaka is the convener, Save Nigeria Movement.