NYSC: Why we can’t give corps members military training – Board

Despite increasing requests by Nigerians for a one-year military training to be included in the National Youth Service Corps programme, the National Board of the scheme has ruled out the possibility for now, adding that If they are allowed to be on their own, it will be dangerous for the country.
The Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Tijani Adekanbi, told the acting Niger State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, at the Government House in Minna during a courtesy visit that the Board met recently on the issue and suspended the matter for the meantime.
According to Adekanbi: “The primary reason why the NYSC cannot give military training to corps members as is being requested is because after the one year military training, there is nowhere where the corps members will be posted.
“If we give them one year military training, we have to absorb them into any of the services.
“If they are allowed to be on their own, it will be dangerous for the country.”
The chairman of the National Board of the NYSC also disclosed that the scheme is currently working out a guideline that must be followed by all corps members while embarking on their community development service to ensure that “overambitious projects with huge financial demands are not embarked upon”.
While saying that those patronising the NYSC community Development Projects should scrutinise the projects properly and contact the NYSC secretariat before supporting the idea, Adekanbi believes that the community development projects embarked upon by corps members have assisted in the development of the various communities where youth corps members are posted to.
On the issue of fake NYSC camps and fake NYSC certificates, Adekanbi called for more vigilance on the part of employers of labour, insisting that there is no way the NYSC discharge certificates can be forged.
He therefore asked employers of labour to always before promoting any staff crosscheck the validity of the NYSC certificates tendered by the worker.
He also maintained that influential Nigerians who try to make their children evade the mandatory one year service are subjecting them to risks in the future as they would not be eligible for employment or contest election without the discharge certificate.
In his remarks, Ibeto said the NYSC scheme has assisted the state in the implementation of its education and health programmes through the provision of qualified manpower.
He added: “The NYSC scheme has been able to make Nigerians know every part of this country.
“It has made our youths to know the true situation on the ground in the states where they served.”