·
DEMANDS FOR THE FULL MOBILIZATION OF ALL ELIGIBLE
GRADUATES
·
REMOVAL OF THE COMPULSION PLACED ON THE SCHEME
THEREBY MAKING IT VOLUNTARY
The Education
Rights campaign (ERC) Ondo State Chapter condemns the slashing of the
Prospective Corps Members (PCM) for the NYSC Batch B by 67%. We consider this
as anti-student because many graduates of various institutions nationwide have
already spent more than a year at home waiting to be mobilized for service. This
is also related to the deliberate action of the government to “kill” public
education.
The NYSC,
conceived in the aftermath of the 1967-1970 civil war with the objective of
fostering national unity, is a mandatory scheme for graduates of higher
institutions who are not more than the age of 30 without which they can neither
proceed for postgraduate program nor seek employment. Consequently, by slashing
the PCM, thousands of graduates would be stranded at home, unable to either
proceed to augment their qualifications or seek employment. This is
unacceptable and we demand a retraction of the decision.
As an immediate
step, the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) demands the full mobilization of all
graduates eligible for the Batch B national youth service scheme. Doing
otherwise would amount to mortgaging the future of the nation’s youth.
Furthermore,
the idea of a compulsory national youth service that all persons must observe
regardless of their individual preference is undemocratic and consequently
should not be tolerated under a purportedly democratic milieu. We therefore
demand an amendment to the Act setting up the NYSC to make it a voluntary
service instead of a mandatory scheme. This is necessary to ensure that those
who do not wish to serve, regardless of whether or not they have attained the
age of 30, can easily be exempted so they can proceed with their life.
We call on
prospective Corp members to get organized and take to the street to express their
dissatisfaction and anger. Mass meetings and peaceful protest marches should be
organized on campuses and to NYSC offices at the state capitals and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja to stop this attempt to mortgage our future. The
Students Unions and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) must
play a central role in this mobilization by convening public meetings which
should be opened to all students organizations, including left and socialist
groups, with a view to discussing strategy to defeat this policy. The labour
movement especially the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress
(TUC) as well as staff unions in higher institutions must speak up by
condemning this policy and be prepared to take mass actions in solidarity with
students if government refuses to reverse it.
Despite the
N66.83bn budgetary allocation for NYSC, the frequent complaint has been inadequate
funding which delayed the batch A stream B till July before being mobilized and
hence, forced the batch B PCMs to wait till November. In the same vein, the
same excuse is also being canvassed to justify the slashing of batch B PCMs by
67% (2/3).
The outcome of
this is that only 33% (1/3) of the eligible graduates from each tertiary institution
nationwide would be mobilized this November while the remaining 67% (2/3) will
have to wait till 2017 before being mobilized meanwhile these set of students
have spent more than a year at home after graduation.
For instance,
Nnamdi Azikwe Universty, on 4th of October, released an Internal
Memorandum inviting deans of each faculty for a balloting as the PCM of the
institution has been slashed from 2,314 to 894. The future of the graduates of
the institution has been turned into a bazaar which requires balloting. Also at
BOWEN University, reports on the 5th of October has also shown that
the PPC of the institution has been reduced from 956 to 367 while the Obafemi Awolowo
University (ACE ONDO extension inclusive) which has a minimum of 5,000
graduates will have to mobilize less than 1,500 students.
Despite the
challenges faced before and during the service program, the N19, 800 monthly allowance
being paid to serving Corp members is too small to sustain them especially
during this time of economic recession, deregulation of fuel price, naira
devaluation, economic hardship and high cost of living. Even this amount is
rarely paid without delays. This year, many Corp members were owed several
months of their state allowances. Some state governments even stopped out
rightly payment of the allowance citing economic recession.
Nigeria’s public
education sector (which should be funded with at least 26% budgetary allocation
as recommended by UNESCO) has continued to get worse and there has not been any
plan(s) to resuscitate the sector. This trend, together with plans to sell national
assets, is a clear indication of the deficiencies of any government under the system
of capitalism. This is why it is necessary, even as we continue to fight to
defend the socio-economic rights of students and working people, to also build
a political movement to overthrow capitalism and enthrone an equitable and
democratic socialist society under which public education can be provided free
and made accessible to all.
Hence, ERC
frowns at the anti-students’ policies of the 43 years old scheme in its attempt
to deprive the youths of their rights. We see no reason why the NYSC should not
be adequately funded as it serves as first-grade experience for fresh graduates
in the labour market and no alternative has yet been provided for the scheme.
We hereby
demand, as a matter of urgency and necessity, the mobilization of all eligible
graduates. Also, we demand the adequate funding of the scheme for proper and
functional running of the scheme, including the raising of the monthly
allowance of serving Corp members to an amount capable of ensuring they enjoy a
decent living standard during the period of service. Also, we demand
the removal of the compulsion placed on NYSC.
Signed:
Owoyomi Damilola Owot
State Coordinator
Education Rights
Campaign (ERC)
Ondo State Chapter.
07065184322
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