Speaking about the recent concerns about the safety of National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) members who are being posted to states in Northern Nigeria where there have been viloent attacks, the Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, insisted that corps members will be posted to Borno, Yobe and other troubled states. This is contrary to the directive by the Director-General of the NYSC, Brig.-General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, which said that corps members who were posted to Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Kano and Kaduna States have been directed to report to the NYSC Directorate headquarters in Abuja for redeployment and Corps members posted to Yobe and Borno States would hav their orientation at the NYSC camps in Nasarawa and Benue States respectively.
The House of Representatives had also passed a resolution asking the NYSC to halt the posting of corps members to troubled states in the North.
The Minister of Youth Development stated that the posting of corps members to states other than their states of origin was an important aspect of the laws that established the National Youth Service Corp and that any concessions over the posting of corps members, besides some special circumstances such as health and marriage, would require an amendment of the enabling law.
The minister said, “Talking about the National Assembly’s resolution vis-a vis our position here. My position is that of the law. The fundamental thing is that the NYSC is a constitutional issue; the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is supreme.
“Of course, the NYSC initially was established through a military decree in 1973 because of its potential to the existence of Nigeria as a nation. And in pursuance of a deliberate policy to set up something that will always and continue to integrate Nigerians and bring about harmony amongst Nigerians, among other things, the framers of the 1979 Constitution deemed it fit to make the NYSC law part of the constitution.
”So if you are going to make any amendment to the NYSC or alter anything, you have to alter the constitution. That is the position. In that regard, posting of corps members to states, apart from their own, except in some special circumstances, is governed by the law and must be adhered to."
“Don’t forget that a number of people went to the civil war. A number of Nigerians went to the war front they were killed they left families. There are people who up till now who for no fault of theirs because by circumstances they were born during the period of the war they were not armed they got incapacitated. They have disabilities and they are living with those disabilities because of the war. This is a sacrifice to the nation.”
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Rahul SjJEsptrANcBPvSPVtn, rfqfZIOTlWdK August 06, 2012
The Boko Horam uprising is not the tyicapl Islamist radical vs. Christian duel. The attack was focused more on the state, the police, and the way of life in the north that they found contradictory to the Sharia. They wanted to change the 'system'. This is treason, the first of its kind in recent time. It worries me. It is worrisome that the security apparatus fell asleep and not proactive.It is worrisome that an alleged financier, a former commissioner in Borno state, was executed in the same manner Mohammed Yusuf was, by the police.
What is also worrisome is the fact that indiscriminate police actions have made the Nigerian army look like 'saints' in their handling of the crisis. Boko Haram + Niger Delta + increasing armed robbery + stalled economy + clogged bureaucracy driven by bloated and impotent political structure, and you get a picture of an emerging failed state. Under this kind of situation, anything can happen.
I hope I'm wrong and just over reacting. I hope at the end, the obvious calamity that has been starring Nigeria in the eye will make a miracle u-turn, and all will become well. I really hope so.
walts05 lagos, nigeria July 24, 2012
Can this stupid minister move his office to noe of the troubled state to feel d heat. He must be a deranged ma. Mad man
Pearl Lagos, Nigeria July 11, 2012
Lets start by sacrificing members of his family. Like the saying goes, charity begins at home.
TOKS Lagos, 234 July 11, 2012
This is wickedness at its best. Please let us ask the Minister where his own children and relatives will be posted to. OLOSHI!
Dr Godwin Ishaka, Uganda July 11, 2012
It looks Nigeria does not value their citizens. President Jonathan will be blamed to allow the northern who do not value the life of their people to destroy the southerns. The southerners who said that western education is a sin wants the southern educated doctors, pharmacists and teachers to serve their people. Unfortunately the big men sponsoring the boko haram have sent their children to Harvard, Oxford etc yet they deceive the common hausa poor people to send their children to commit suicide.
