Another Libya in NYSC

- Joseph Gilbert

Like a two edged sharp sword, but not the word of God found in the holy books. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme has attracted so much admiration as well as oozing bad blood from the same quantum of the populace.
For different reasons, this has lingered on for debate days and may not end anytime soon. Hate or love it, there are different reasons to, depending on what you see from your "perfect" lens.
    Before the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, the popularly acclaimed Libyan strongman in October 2011, he was likewise despised and cherished. For the former, it was as a result of his foreign policies while the latter stemmed from his good works, domestically. The aftermath of a spilt milk is its splash. That was what Ghadafi's blood presented. From the topics of Nigerians moving to Europe via the Mediterranean sea cum Libya and then Italy, to the can of worms on the Libyan slave market and other forms of human trafficking, to the business of prostitution, and the Dubai dreams. These are all down to fantastic ambitions with faulty strategies of attaining them. The cliché used to be "education is the key". But the remix is that " our leaders have changed the lock".True or not, decide that.

               

    Upon the completion of university education or its equivalent, every Nigerian youth within the 30year mark is expected to go through a mandatory one year of national service. History tells that it is for the purpose of integration, mobility of labour, understanding of our national working and some minor factors not excluding the major aforementioned ones. As tasking as it is, service is not a death sentence when placed on a scale along its equivalent in Israel, North Korea and other countries of the world with something like it. However, the level of discipline, attitude and character of strength displayed by supposedly educated Nigerian youths in national service is nothing short of mind-buggling. Is it from the case of an alleged corps member involved sometime ago in extra marital affair with an Alhaji's wife in Sokoto? How do you reconcile matters of sex scandals between male corps members and their underage or "aged" students with intelligence? Would you rather prefer to know that male school Heads and Principals could with ease do a merry-go-round with female serving corps members posted to schools they command? God forgive the dates they had with John and Jane Does of this earth in their university and polytechnic days before jumping ships to service. The test of the meal's taste in orientation camps should not be worthy of mention either. The question that begs for answer is; where is the place of morality in education? With such moral and intellectual depravity, youth corps members would dream to build their homes through marriage. They end up doing so and eventually reproduce children, and even train them. What runs these minds? No sane psyche ever wishes a broken home. After all, it adds up pressure into a cracked society. Although there is no law guiding the movement or so of young ladies with sugar daddies and the like, or multiple boy/girl friends and more so, decent relationship, religion, either Christianity or Islam forbids lasciviousness. In like manner, no laws decide who escapes or attracts sexually transmitted infections (STIs), above all, there is a natural law that maps out reaping whatever one sows. Directly or through the tenth generation!
    In the real sense, the endorsement of promiscuity by its proponents does not go beyond the quest for "economic power". But since problems demanding money as clear cut solutions do not end, how many men will a lady "run things" with to solve her numerous palavers? Or how many women will a man pick up on a razzle to derive all of the benefits? Excessively disturbing is the point that, with a better percentage of the issues coming from the female folk, they show pitilessness to the feminism movement, and makes one pitiful towards those espousal of feminism. It batters both the future of the actor and those of the unborn little girls. Such is capable of strengthening the grip of protectors that have turned predators over vulnerable ladies. Ordinarily, if there be any such financial reasons as excuses, by the end of their service years, having sold enough of themselves, they easily should be able to own the latest cars, houses and businesses to show for. This is a no-no deal!!
   On the one hand, it is beratable to account by this pen on a surface that, well trained children from their homes abandon the common senses instilled in them upon the assumption of service. So-called freedom has taken them behind the bars of indecency in thought and walk. A truth is, #19,800 is not enough for the most prudent adult in a matter of 31 days when primary needs are considered. It is also not a yardstick to jump into inglorious businesses at red light districts!!! Little planning and investments can pay off. Taking to some extra teaching is even more industrious than discarding it. Consolidating on the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme has engaged many corps members and would not stop, including many attendant rewards. Corps members can take cues from Libyan returnees and learn lessons. One does not make all mistakes needed for learning alone, the mistakes of others are warning enough. Loudly, society should also render patronage to business and trades of corps members. This will help a long way in curbing the abuse of privileged school leavers showcase. Graduates can behave better, they can command better respect than what is obtainable.