A bill seeking the discontinuation of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme has on Monday reached the second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill was sponsored by the lawmaker representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in Rivers State, Mr. Awaji-Inombek Abiante.
Abiante, in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal, listed various reasons why the NYSC should be discontinued.
The memo read in part, “This bill seeks to repeal Section 315(5)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended) on the following grounds:
“Incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism, and ethnic violence; incessant kidnapping of innocent corps members across the country;
“Public and private agencies/departments are no longer recruiting able and qualified Nigerian youths, thus relying heavily on the availability of corps members who are not being well remunerated and get discarded with impunity at the end of their service year without any hope of being gainfully employed;
“Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps management now gives consideration to posting corps members to their geopolitical zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps, i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration.”
The NYSC was established by the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon on May 22, 1973, under Decree No. 24 of 1973 as a way of reconciling and reintegrating Nigerians after the civil war between July 6, 1967, and January 15, 1970.
ALSO READ: NYSC delists 8 foreign varsities from 2021 orientation course
%20scheme%20has%20on%20Monday%20reached%20the%20second%20reading%20in%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives.){kind=link}