NYSC’s Strange Security Advisory

■What’s the National Youth Service Corps thinking advising corps members and their parents to prepare for ransom payment? Do they plan to kidnap our children?

Nothing can he more preposterous. And that point has been made by the opprobrium it has caused across the land and its near attempt to burst the internet.

We speak of the security advisory contained in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) pamphlet to new corps members and staff. 

“Security Awareness and Education Handbook for Corps Members and staff ” has some rather strange, if not unreasonable advise to the corps and staff members which has set the internet buzzing and left a splatter of raw egg on the face of the management of the NYSC.

Particularly offensive is the advisory on page 56 No. 5(e) which says: “when travelling in high risk roads such as Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Lokoja- Okene, Aba-Port Harcourt roads, then alert your family members, friends and colleagues in order to have someone on hand to pay off the ransom that could be demanded.”

If you thought this was a one off error; if you thought the authors of the manual had a momentary lapse of memory, here’s another clanger on page 58, No. 6 (e): Advisory action when kidnapped or taken hostage:

“The kidnappers may ask for contact person, do not mention your place of work, but your close friends and parents. They will reach them to negotiate your release. “

These are just some excerpts from an ill-conceived and poorly articulated manual from a critical public institution such as the NYSC.

The NYSC is under the presidency and is headed by an army general. One therefore expects a well-thought-out security advisory that would guide all stakeholders through what has become a minefield of security risks in some parts of the country. 

Of course, most serious security issues are never written down. They are often coded so that they do not become counterproductive should they get into the hands of the enemies. 

For instance, the two cases quoted above have left the staff and corps members even more vulnerable to kidnap.

Second, the Corps is seen here taking no responsibility whatsoever in the event of an unfortunate incidence of abduction of corps members.

It is unacceptable, and that’s putting it mildly, that after parents have spent nearly half a lifetime of toil taking their ward from kindergarten through tertiary education, that the NYSC could exhibit such levity and lackadaisical disposition. And going by this horrid handbook, Nigerians would be wondering whether the NYSC understands the duties and responsibilities inherent in taking charge of nearly all Nigeria’s freshly minted graduates every year.

This blip would only reinforce the call by many Nigerians that the 48-year-old programme be scrapped. 

Not a few Nigerians think the NYSC which was introduced to forge unity and national coherence may have outlived it’s usefulness. Nigeria’s diversity which was once her strength has become her bane as the country is more divided today than ever before. 

From the foregoing, TRUE VISION is of the view that the NYSC programme is ripe for a through review with an aim to charting a fresh course forward. Rather than the ridiculous proposition of the NYSC Management, we think that the disquieting insecurity would justify the call for incorporating military training into the NYSC programme. Teaching corps members martial skills will no doubt be more productive than indoctrinating them on how to surrender in what is becoming a very dangerous world.

In the time being, it is our considered opinion that if it has not already done so, the management of the NYSC should please withdraw that mockery of a manual; it represents a dent on its image.