INSECURITY OF CORPS MEMBERS AS A TRIGGERING FUELING FACTOR FOR THE REPEAL OF NYSC ACT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The NYSC scheme is an initiative in which the government of Nigeria requires graduates of tertiary institutions to serve the country for one year in various establishments around the country. This is a scheme aimed at nation building by promoting national consciousness and literacy, as well as the growth of Nigeria's youth and economy. Inviting youths to serve the country was thus seen as a deliberate and clear effort to counter challenges to a prosperous, unified, and self-reliant nation. This includes instilling patriotism, hard work, tolerance, and integrity in the youth. It also involves the need to raise their collective consciousness, encourage them to pursue jobs in their primary assignment, and recognize the importance of living permanently with indigenous people after the service program. It's a micro-initiative that focuses on social change by a group of Nigerians who are seen as the country's potential leaders (Sanda A. 1976 cited in Yemi B. 2015).

This youth service experiment is not exclusive to Nigeria, as shown by studies of youth service in other nations, which indicate that the initiative has been used to address a variety of issues confronting young people in particular. Sherraden and Eberly noted in their review of the youth service program in the United States that these problems include unemployment, substance addiction, alcoholism, aggression, crime, and educational imbalance (Sherraden Michael M. & Eberly Donald J. (1982) cited in Yemi B. (2015). It is commonly assumed that by participating in this service program, youths will be reformed and become active members of society.

Sherraden et al. have also identified three main viewpoints and reasons for calling on the youth to serve. The first is that youth service is seen as a type of human development program that molds people's abilities and personalities in ways that educational institutions have struggled to instill. The second explanation is that young people are seen as a national resource with the capacity, versatility, and inventiveness to address social and economic needs that are beyond the scope of traditional institutions.

The third explanation is that many people believe that young people are needed to solve social issues such as violence, substance abuse, and unemployment. Youths, it has also been suggested, may play an important role in post-conflict societies.

Youths can serve as social capital or work force in situations like Nigeria after the civil war, according to Eberly et al., by providing voluntary welfare, economic, health, and social services. It gives young people an opportunity to identify with the state, stay loyal to the state, and represent the state. It also provides them with a means of contributing to post-conflict societies. Furthermore, service learning is improved, in which young people gain academic skills and benefit through meeting the needs of others, among other things, and thus can aid in the reconstruction of post-conflict communities.

Following the Nigerian civil war in 1973, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was formed to involve Nigerian university graduates under the age of thirty (30) in nation building. However, given the security threats that have bedeviled the program, such as abduction of corp members, fear of insurgent attacks on NYSC camps, hostage crisis, and assassination of corp members, there have been calls for it to be scrapped.

Therefore it is against this backdrop that this study is set to examine insecurity of corps members as a triggering factor for the repeal of  NYSC Act stipulated in CAP. N84 of 1974 constitution  during 2nd Republic .

1.2 Statement of the problem

There are many challenges that have threatened the existence of the NYSC programme.The complexity and dimensions of the program's security risks have expanded as a result of the country's waves of insecurity challenges. Recently, the Boko Haram sect, backed by their bomb-blast terrorism in Northern Nigeria, has virtually instilled fear in the minds of parents and Nigerian graduates awaiting NYSC deployment. The reports of the Boko Haram sect's bombing of the NYSC permanent orientation camp in Maiduguri had the media buzzing (The Guardian 2014). Thousands of university graduates are produced each year, and they often hold their knees on the carpet, praying for providence's hands of God to keep them from being posted to the terror-infested states of Borno and Yobe, Kaduna and other insurgent regions. It is a matter of Nigerian history that thousands of NYSC participants posted in various sections of the North have been re-deployed to other states where the wind of protection is stronger in order to complete their NYSC programme safely.Another cause for concern is the taking of hostages and the kidnapping of corps members. While the abduction of corps members began in the early years of the program, it has recently escalated into a full-fledged kidnapping. The recent heinous act of kidnapping and raping to death a female corps member, Grace Adie Ushamg, serving in Maiduguri, Borno State capital on September 26th, 2009 for the single offense of wearing khaki trousers compelled the media and the national assembly to join parents in the debate on the NYSC and security question; what should constitute its nature as well as the implementation procedure (Vanguard 2009 cited in Yemi B. 2015). Ogechi Martins, Chijioke Richard, and Esther Nwachukwu were abducted from the Ogonokom Corper's Lodge in Rivers State in 2013. After ten days in captivity, they were released. Mbu Joseph Mbu, the Commissioner of Police, added that five people had been apprehended in conjunction with the kidnapping of the three corps men (Okafor C. & Ani J. 2015). A former NYSC Director-General decried the country's spate of kidnappings, claiming that corps members had become a magnet for kidnappers. Thus, in view of the above issues, the legislature has resolved to repeal the scheme as national instability worsens through the adoption of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration Bill, 2020 (https://gazettengr.com). Therefore it is upon this premise research is set to examine is set to examine insecurity of corps members as a triggering factor for the repeal of  NYSC Act .

1.3 Objective of the study

The main focus of this study is to examine insecurity of corps members as a triggering factor for the repeal of  NYSC Act. Specifically it seeks

1. To examine NYSC act and a review of the programme.

2. To  investigate the role of the scheme

3. To examine the dimension of security threats that is triggering the repeal of the programme.

1.4 Research question

the following research questions guides the study

1. What is the role of the  NYSC programme in Nigeria?

2. Has national  insecurity challenges affects corps members deployed in states?

3. What are the security challenges that has bedevil NYSC programme and corp members?

4. Is insecurity a significant factor triggering the repeal of NYSC Act?

1.5 Significance of the study

This study will be significant to policy makers, NYSC officials and graduates. This study will enlighten lawmakers and the government on the importance of evaluating the bill repealing the NYSC, taking into account the implications for increasing the unemployment rate and deepening the grins of criminal activity in the country.According to NYSC officials, the study will allow them to advise policymakers on the complexities of the program and the importance of the program in general, which may change the repeal movement.The study will be helpful to graduates and expose them to seeking other meaningful ways to survive, either by going into entrepreneurship in the absence of a white-collar job. Finally, the study will contribute to the body of knowledge and serve as reference material to researchers in policy studies.

1.6 Scope of the study

The scope of this study borders on the insecurity of corps members as a triggering factor for the repeal of  NYSC Act. it will examine NYSC act and a review of the programme. It will investigate the role of the scheme and it will examine the dimension of security threats that is triggering the repeal of the programme. The study is however limited to selected NYSC secretariats in Kaduna State

1.7 Limitation of the study

The following posed to be a constraint to the study

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

However in the midst  above mentioned limitation the researcher devotedly ensured that the purpose of the study was actualized.

1.8 Definition of terms

Insecurity: the state of being open to danger or threat; lack of protection.

NYSC: The National Youth Service Corps is a program set up by the Nigerian government to involve Nigerian graduates in nation building and the development of the country.

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