Written and Presented by:
Ogechukwu Winston Ukwuoma
OS/14B/3009
On behalf of Corps Member Welfare Group III
With regard to the headline,
we shall write about corp member welfare; and we shall also ask some questions
to ascertain how NYSC has actually looked into, examined carefully, and
answered to the calls for a better optimized welfare of a corps member.
(A) What Welfare is all about
The Welfare of a person is
the total concern for the living conditions of that person.
It is a commitment that aims
at meeting the needs of a person, and consequently promotes, upgrades, and
preserves their total living conditions and vitality.
The welfare of a corps member
is the aid, pat, security of life, grant and allowances given to them in order
to ensure their absolute ease and comfort for the twelve months they serve
their fatherland.
Welfare of a person comes in
different packages and dimensions, and all of these aims at achieving one thing
- the wellbeing of the person.
Corps member welfare begins
right at the point of mobilization for the youth service scheme. It spans to
the point where the corps member officially receives their merited certificate,
signs out and then automatically becomes and ex corps member.
We are proud to be corps
members, and we are proud, though in all modesty that in few days time; we
shall bid farewell to National Youth Service Corps and this state of Osun as
well. To this end, we can confidently give an account of the degree of welfare
we received throughout our stay so far.
From our experience, we can
give an overview of the corp member welfare at the below locations and events:
(1)The Orientation Camp:
It cannot be argued that we
were about the first batch of corps members that had fully grown roots at their
places of primary assignment before the normal camping and orientation
exercise. It is laudable, the decision taken by NYSC to cancel the camping
exercise earlier on in order to check the spread of the rampaging EBOLA virus.
It is also applaud able for the same NYSC to reschedule the camping exercise in
order to let us participate and have a feel of what orientation camp is all
about. Again, it is also commendable that they paid us on time to let us have
some money to buy a few needs for camping showpiece. All of these are a true
exhibition of corps member welfare.
But that notwithstanding,
some things went wrong. Our welfare was tempered with. Not only did most of us stand
in queues for the whole day waiting for bed spaces to be allocated, we also
started to understand that 21 days was not 21 minutes. It was 21 days plus 21
nights. We started noticing some cases where NYSC was not treating us right.
Why should NYSC allow the soldiers to push us into strenuous drills? Why should
the soldiers command us to frog-jump whenever we made the slightest negligible
mistakes? Why should NYSC allow the kitchen to be serving us with hot milk colored
water as tea? Why didn't NYSC inspect and made sure our toilet ends were not in
decay before our arrival? Why were we forced to live a so much regimented life?
Why was our total welfare almost neglected?
It's all about corps member
welfare and inspection, so we should be allowed to write our minds form what we
have experienced.
(2)The Community Development
Service (CDS):
Apart from Place of Primary
Assignment (PPA), Community Development Service is another means by which we
reach out to the public. The public is made up of market women, okada riders,
stall owners, pupils, students, undergraduates, builders, carpenters, taxi
drivers and more. We put up campaigns and proposals targeted at enlightening
and providing small scale infrastructure that can better their lives. We have
them at heart, and we are so obsessed about their well being and welfare.
But we that work so hard to
see to the welfare of these populace, what has NYSC done to see to our own
welfare in turn? Has NYSC effectively inspected the level of tremendous
commitments by corps members towards the welfare of this populace? When will
NYSC pay us back by improving their (NYSC) degree of consciousness about our
welfare? What measures did they put in place to ensure our safety whenever we
went out there to reach out to the public?
Dealing with the public
especially the uncivilized and uneducated one was quite a task. We were very
much vulnerable to their mischievous reactions. We were always very careful,
counting our steps and being very cautious not to cross boundaries while
addressing them. It’s part of our duty, but we think our welfare is not being
cared for because there is no empirical guaranty of our safety.
Setting up small scale
community projects communities is also part of our duties. We planned to embark
on some of these projects but there were no funds. We learnt NYSC could provide
a counterpart fund if we applied for it. But we also learnt that bottle neck
involved in the process was much. Why should we be treated this way? What
happened to the sweet promises of good welfare packages for a corps member?
(3)The Place of Primary
Assignment:
We have to categorically
state that the welfare of a corps member in their place of primary assignment
is abysmally low. We experienced a situation at a particular period where a
riot targeted at both teachers and corpers by the students was carried out. The
corps members involved luckily escaped with their lives.
But we were amazed by the
fact that NYSC refused to inspect the reason behind the riot despite the fact
they informed about it. The riot occurred in Akinorun high school, Ikirun. The
teachers and corps members were nearly stoned to death.
Why should NYSC overlook this
kind of incidence? Is our safety and welfare not the most important primary
assignment to them?
(4)Host Community of the
Corps Member:
The host community of the
corps member is where the corps member stays and lives throughout their one
year service. From our experience, we found out that NYSC did not bother about
where we lived. NYSC did not bother to inspect the condition of the villages
and compounds we were living in. Most of us resided in communities filled with
fetish cultures and evil indigenes. Most of us also were posted to very remote
villages that are not close to the main town.
(5)Apartments/Housing:
We don't think the N19,800
allowance gives room to a corps member to rent an accommodation. What aids has
NYSC given to this regard? From our experience, we can boldly say that welfare
of a corps member when it comes to accommodation and housing is poor.
(6)The last General Elections:
Well, we can say that both
NYSC and INEC did their best when it comes to the welfare of a corps member.
NYSC watched over us with utter attention. Their welfare towards corps members was
commendable. They ensured our safety.
But we were not properly
paid. We did a lot of work, but the remuneration was simply poor.
(B) Challenges
NYSC will be in a better
position to state the challenges they encounter, which consequently affects
their level of concern towards the welfare of a corps member.
(C) Suggestions/Solutions
(1) NYSC should increase the
allowances of a corps member
(2)NYSC should provide enough
corpers' lodges in their places of primary assignment
(3)More funds from federal
government should be allocated to corps members' feeding in orientation camps
(4) The populace in various
communities that host corps members should be educated on the enormous need and
importance of having a corps member in their midst.
(5) Security agents should be
positioned and should be alert to safeguard corps members during CDS
outreaches.
