WHEN the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme was introduced by the General Yakubu Gowon administration in 1973, it was designed to promote national integration of Nigeria’s over 300 ethnic groups. With about ten universities at the time and the annual graduate turnout of less than 20,000 per annum, the Scheme was affordable. Every graduate received call-up and placement.

The first crack in the foundation occurred when several states and the Federal Government established more universities and polytechnics, thereby increasing the number of eligible Corps Members at a faster rate than the growth of the Gross Domestic Productivity (GDP); resulting in a larger chunk of the annual budget going to the NYSC.

The second shock came when the prices of crude oil tumbled from 1983 to 1995, resulting in the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). At one point, the price of crude oil went down as low as $9.90 per barrel from a record of $30 per barrel. For several years the economy was contracting. Factories were closing down; government agencies were retrenching, and private sector employers of Corps Members started rejecting them.

The third major shock was the creation of more states and the attendant rise in the number of state-owned tertiary institutions and over forty private universities. From less than 2,000 in 1973 the figure has risen to about 300,000 prospective participants. Last month the NYSC Secretariat was mandated to reduce the intake of Corps Members this year by 60 per cent – without saying what will happen to those excluded from service. Before this new directive, the NYSC had a heavy backlog from previous years.

The Federal Government has a monumental crisis on its hands, given the provision of the NYSC law that no employer of Labour can employ any graduate who had not served. What will happen to graduates who are ready to serve but prevented from doing so by government? Is it still sensible to penalise those the government failed to call up?

The exclusion of sixty per cent of graduates will surely predispose the selection process to corruption, and both the officials and prospective participants will be roped into this.
We believe the time has come for the Federal Government to do a deep rethink about this Scheme. Its objectives are still relevant because they allow our young graduates to get to know their country better and learn the ropes in self-dependence.

We do not support the scrapping of the NYSC. Rather, it should be modernised to fit in with contemporary challenges. Its modus operandi is forty years behind time. We believe the Scheme can be repositioned for greater value addition to the participants who will, in turn, give greater value to the nation.