TALKING WITH PEOPLE

AJUWAYA: AS THEY ANSWER THE CLARION CALL

You know them. You call them Corpers. You probably were once a Corper or hope to be. What you might not know or remember is that Youth Corps Members are not on a post-graduation fun fair or adventure. They are answering a Clarion Call, a call to action. Bear this in mind when you find them in your neighbourhood, with faces that betray their ignorance of the area. When you hail them: “Corper sion!” do it with meaning behind your words.

In present day Nigeria, servant leaders with a sense of mission have been the clamour. We have to find them. If not amongst the leaders of today, then among those of tomorrow. A vicious cycle of bad leadership would be the case if present and future leaders are glaringly aimless and irresponsive to the plights of the nation.  The National Youth Service Corps is a smart place to go searching for tomorrow’s leaders.

However, a bothersome thought lingers in my mind. The law of Karma. The law of harvest. Sow yam and reap yam. A goat cannot beget an antelope. For years now, the Nigerian government has best been described as inept, not because the men and women who have occupied various government offices are not intelligent or do not possess other necessary capabilities that would ensure a productive and progressive administration of the Nigerian state, but rather because selflessness has never been on the list of virtues that they possess. Character and capacity have not met. Service is yet to be a reason for contesting an election or accepting a government appointment in Nigeria.  They have and seem to still be born out of a desire to accumulate wealth and power.  Here comes my fear: would we be deluding ourselves by anticipating that somehow the next generation has refused to learn from their predecessors, or is the law of karma our doom? In this maiden edition of Talking with People, I have decided it is unwise to believe that what you do not know cannot harm you.  And so I went on to talk with some Corps members. Do they know what is at stake? Can they deliver? Have they somehow, from wherever, gotten the heart and desire to serve? What factors could impede them?

 

Miss Elizabeth James is a Corps Member Serving in Ondo State.

TWP: Do you think about Nigeria on a regular day?                            

ELIZABETH: No I don't

TWP: For a country with so many problems shouldn’t you?

ELIZABETH: I should

TWP: Why don’t u?

ELIZABETH: I think of it’s problems but I can't really dwell on such without accompanying solutions that I can proffer.

TWP: A Clarion Call by way of definition is a call to action. The first line of the NYSC anthem says “Youths obey the Clarion Call”.  In evaluating yourself and perhaps your fellow Corp Members do you identify a consciousness that you are being called to action?

ELIZABETH:  No. It is what they've made the acronym or would I say entity to be. NYSC as it's called to most people is a waste of 11 months. I’m not for the idea anyway. My point is it is a call to action, yes...what action? When everyone is allawee expectant? I think NYSC has lost it's essence. We're not walking the talk, the talk in this case being the precious lines of the anthem.

TWP: How would you define the term “Service”?

ELIZABETH: Service coined from serve. To be subject to, to render/devote time, resources et cetera

TWP: Don’t you think living a life of service would impede living a glamorous life?

ELIZABETH: It wouldn’t impede, in fact they are inter-related. If you have a glamorous life, financially, you could serve by helping your community, which is community development service, in the way you can, for their betterment. When you give, you’d definitely get in return.

TWP: Would you say NYSC is really about service?

ELIZABETH: It is about service, Of course.

TWP: But you said everyone is allawee (monthly allowance) expectant

ELIZABETH: (1) It is voluntary, although people say it is compulsory. They did not force me to collect my call-up letter in the first place. I could have stayed in my house. (2) It is personal. Some make it a point of duty to teach, serve their fatherland. It is service. It is for the government then to me it is service. We're more or less pre-civil service.

TWP: But you cannot be employed without the NYSC certificate

ELIZABETH: My dear corruption is so much in the Nigerian system that one can get a job without the National Youth Service Certificate.

TWP: So the mere fact that a person responds to the call-up letter is a clear indication of service to his/her fatherland?

ELIZABETH: Yes, kind of. You've accepted the terms and conditions or criteria of what it means to be an Ajuwaya. Accepting the letter equals accepting responsibility.

TWP: Selflessness is a virtue that has eluded past and present Nigerian leaders. Looking at corps members can this virtue be identified in them?

ELIZABETH: Yes. Very few of them though. Where I’m serving presently, you see the zeal in them. Should I conclude that because we're still new and this might wane or fizzle out? No I shouldn’t.

TWP: So we have a reason to hope for a better tomorrow of selfless leaders?

ELIZABETH: Yes we have a reason. At this point I make reference to my good friend, Uzoma Ikechukwu who believes in our young generation taking over.

the talk and the walk

In a mixed economic system like Nigeria practices, the task of economic development and progress falls on both the government and the private sector. Both parties have roles to play to ensure that the nation progresses economically and otherwise. No party has ever denied this. The question has remained whether the inputs of both parties reflect a consciousness of their responsibilities.

The National Youth Service Corps was established in 1973 in a bid to reconcile the nation, an action that became imperative after the Nigerian Civil war.

It’s mission statement reads “To mobilize and groom graduate youths for the promotion of National Unity, sustainable development, self reliance and prepare them for the challenges of leadership”. In driving this mission, the NYSC programme begins for every graduate youth with the reception of a Call-up letter. The letter would contain the specific state amongst the 36 states of the Federation that the receiver has been posted to. Usually, a person is posted to a state other than and far from his or her state of origin.  The idea is for youths to be acquainted with the cultures and practices of other ethnic groups in order to foster national unity. However, there are reports that the postings can be influenced by prospective Corps members who know the right NYSC official.  

The service year begins with an orientation exercise that lasts for about three weeks. During the period of the orientation exercise, Corps members are camped in the NYSC orientation camp located in their states of deployment. Orientation activities include lectures on a wide range of national subjects, paramilitary activities, physical training exercises, skill acquisition programmes, amongst others. At the end of the orientation exercise, Corps members are deployed to what is called a “Place of Primary Assignment”.  A recent policy of the government ensures that in posting Corps members, emphasis is placed on rural posting in the areas of agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure. Corps members are also expected to engage in community development programmes in their host communities.  

A Corps Member serving in Lagos State who preferred his identity withheld shared this with me:

TWP: How would you describe the orientation exercise? 
D: It's hype was out of this world. It was good because for the first time in my life, I was amidst so many young enthusiastic professionals. And it was terrible because the facilities were like those of a concentration camp.

TWP: Did you learn a new skill on the skill acquisition platform during the orientation period?

D: It was a commendable idea but I didn't learn any due to lack of interest.

TWP: How has the community you were posted to for your Primary Assignment received you?

D: I am very grateful, I was posted to an elite private school and I was well received.

TWP: Any favours, segregation or hostility as a result of your being a Corps Member?

D: Favour? Yes, because everyone wants to help me. Thanks be to God, no hostility or segregation thus far.

TWP: Aside your work place, on the streets, any favours or hostility?

D: Yes. The uniform makes you appear like a newcomer in Lagos. Once, in a bus, two ladies asked me where I was going and offered me direction without my asking.

TWP: Do you think people perceive corps members as saviours? As people who have come with solutions?

D: Nah, far from it. I think we are seen as "poor" innocent children who are made to work hard for peanut.

TWP: Do you think that is what the government has in mind for NYSC?

D: Not exactly. I think it is a policy each government sees as a ritual for graduates. They are indifferent about it.

TWP: Some Corps members complain that the NYSC kit is made of sub-standard materials. Would you add your voice to this?

D: Yeah...considering a large sum of money is invested into it.

the Challenges

I think it is absurd to answer a call to action and then be surprised that you are faced with challenges. First, a challenge probably led to your being called upon to act. So from transportation to their state of posting, the orientation exercise, to settling down in their places of primary assignment, Corpers as they are fondly called find reasons to worry, fear or get dismayed.  A most recent cause of worry has been the safety of Corps members considering security treats in the country.  

Mr. Thaddeus Agaji was originally posted to Borno State but applied to be reposted to Nasarawa State due to the unsettled nature of security in the former state.

TWP: What challenges have you faced so far as a Corps member?

THADDEUS: I have faced a lot of challenges. Processing my relocation was difficult. I was rejected by many schools within Nasarawa state before I was finally accepted at the State University.

TWP: Have you faced any transportation challenges?

THADDEUS: Yes I have. I have spent a lot of money on transport fare.

TWP: How about accommodation?

THADDEUS: Accommodation too is very, very difficult.

TWP: Any provisions by the government?

THADDEUS: No provisions. We are to rent our houses by ourselves and to rent a house is not easy.

TWP: Is the allowance you are paid enough to cover your expenses?

THADDEUS: No it is not enough.

they dream and believe

For most Corpers, life has just begun in a sense. They are fresh from tertiary institutions, full of dreams and aspirations as they enter into the world of works. The Clarion call itself is to them a confirmation of progress, another step up the ladder. They are no longer to be counted amongst illiterate people in a country where such abound. They seem to believe a lot is possible. Hopefully, a lot would be possible. 

TWP: Your post-service year plans?

THADDEUS: After my NYSC I hope to establish an animal farm to make a living. I want to be self employed.

ELIZABETH: I would write more professional examinations and probably get a white or rainbow collar job (laughs)