DPI and #Protectthecorpers announce online conference on NYSC reforms

The calls for action on reforms of the Nigerian Youth Service Corps NYSC will receive another boost on Monday, 10 October as Digital Peers International and #Protect the Corpers will host a twitter conference with the hashtag #Nyscreforms. The Twitter conference which will run from 4pm – 7pm that day will attempt to gather ideas, suggestions and opinions of young people and critical stakeholders on reforming the 38 year old scheme.

In over 38 years of existence, more than 1 million youth across Nigeria have been deployed under the National Youth Service Corps [NYSC] scheme. The scheme which was originally set up with the vision to promote national integuration, cross cultural exchange, mutual understanding and service amongst Nigerian youth, has fallen short of its initial ideals. Since its inception in 1973, the decree setting up the National Youth Service Corps has been modified only once through decree 51 of June 1993, Nigeria’s current social realities of unemployment, poverty,
infrastructural challenges and escalating violence has made it imperative to embark upon a reform of the NYSC scheme in order to reposition it to effectively respond to these challenges and contribute to Nation building.

Encouraged by the commitment of the Ministry of Youth and Development towards the reformation of the NYSC, DIGITAL PEERS INTERNATIONAL in collaboration with the #Protectthecorpers Initiative fully intends to discuss crucial points on the overdue NYSC reforms.

The twitter conference is part of a bigger project tagged ‘NYSC reforms and Advocacy project’ which is supported by the World Bank. The primary objective of this project is to gather opinions and ideas of young people around NYSC reforms, develop it into an advocacy document and engage the Government and stakeholders to ensure that the 38 year old institution is
reformed to meet the challenges of today’s Nigeria.

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Apologise or resign, #ProtectTheCorpers tells Governor Isa Yuguda

- Asks NYSC to suspend posting of corps members to Bauchi State, as their security cannot be guaranteed

The coalition of groups behind the #ProtectTheCorpers campaign have demanded a full and unreserved apology from the Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, for insensitive statements he made about youth corps members who lost their lives in post-election riots in Bauchi, and other states in the North.

We read with utmost dismay the comments attributed to the Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, regarding the murders of youth corps members in his state. Mr. Yuguda was quoted in the Punch Newspapers (Friday, April 29, 2011) as saying “They (corps members) were destined to experience what they experienced. Nob

ody can run away from destiny. Immediately I handed them over to INEC, it was the responsibility of INEC to protect them. They were not the only ones affected. You cannot hold Yuguda or Bauchi State (responsible) for what happened to those corps members, because it was the responsibility of INEC to take care of them."

#ProtectTheCorpers joins prominent Nigerians from across the country who have condemned the governor’s reckless remarks, including former Attorney-General, Richard Akinjide, who put this issue in perspective by reminding the governor that the Commissioner of Police in the state was responsible to the governor and as such should be taking orders from him. He also reminded the Governor that he is chairman of his state’s Security Council.



“It beggars belief that a governor, who also doubles as the Chief Security Officer of his state, would make such a statement regarding the horrific murders of Nigerian youth on national assignment within his jurisdiction,” said Tolu Ogunlesi of the EnoughisEnough Nigeria Coalition. “We regard Mr. Yuguda’s words not only as proof of an outright abdication of his responsibility to ensure the security of lives and property within his jurisdiction, but also as proof that he is unfit to be trusted with the affairs of managing a Nigerian State.”

Still, it appears that the governor stands by his statement, as on Saturday, his office released a response that emphasised his earlier remarks. Repeating the offending comments, his Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media/Public Affairs, Sanusi Muhammad, quoted the governor as saying “The death of the corp members was purely an act of destiny. As human beings we should always accept our destiny either in our favour or against our interest. The unfortunate death of the corps members was destined to happen in the course of their service to Nigeria. Every new day is a new experience to all living souls which we must contend.”

We find both statements objectionable and indefensible, and deserving of unequivocal condemnation by all well-meaning Nigerians. We demand a retraction or resignation by Mr. Yuguda, and a public apology to the families of the murdered corps member and to the country as a whole. We call on the Governor’s Forum, of which he is a member, to immediately denounce this statement.

We also call on the management of the National Youth Service Corps to immediately suspend the deployment of youth corps members to Bauchi State. There is no way the lives of youth corps members can be regarded as being secure in a state whose governor confidently tells the world that “they were destined to experience what they experienced.”

On Thursday, 28 April 2011, the #ProtectTheCorpers campaign was launched. The campaign is led by The Future Nigeria Project, in partnership with the National Youth Council, AIESEC, SleevesUp Nigeria, Friends of Aik, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, NigeriaVillageSquare, and the EnoughisEnough Nigeria Coalition.

The campaign has already gathered support across the country, thousands have already signed the petition and the coalition is confident that it will reach its target of 100, 000 signatures.

“This is not a protest,” said Chude Jideonwo, of The Future Project. “This is a policy intervention. We have gone out and voted, and it is time to put government under pressure to act on behalf of the people. The #ProtectTheCorpers campaign is aimed at “implementing a solution-oriented approach that involves working with Members of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Youth and the NYSC authorities to reform the service in order to protect corps members in the interim and then to completely overhaul the scheme in the long term so that it is actually useful to the nation.”

The 7-point demand in the petition includes official identification of “hotspot” states and districts, the establishment of an NYSC Emergency Fund in times of crisis, decentralisation of the command structure so that state governments are in charge of welfare and security, life insurance for corps members, a comprehensive and digitised database of corps members and most importantly, the formation of a National Youth Service Reform Committee to recommend full scale reform of the functions, scope and structure of the programme.

“Mr. Yuguda might not have noticed, but the balance of power just changed hands from politicians to the people in the last elections. Politicians like him should note that there will be consequences for their actions and statements,” the coalition said in a statement signed by the National Youth Council.

The petition and more information on the demands is available on www.thefuturenigeria.com/protectthecorpers.

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Did you hear what the Bauchi Governor said?

It is now urgent that we #ProtectTheCorpers!

On April 19, the Bauchi State Commissioner Of Police, Mr. John Abakasanga reported that four serving members of the NYSC were killed in Bauchi State. According to the Commissioner, rioters raided a building housing about fifty-one youth corpers, killing four and wounding several others. Subsequent reports show that the death toll has risen to eleven in Bauchi alone. Estimated figures are much higher with at least twenty-five corpers presumed dead in each of the Northern states where violence has erupted.

Perhaps more disturbing than these killings is the lack of a swift, coordinated reaction by the authorities. Other than its resolve to give the murdered corpers a well-deserved state burial and compensate their families, the federal administrators have not come up with concrete plans to forestall further violence against corpers. As state governments continue to evacuate indigenous corps members from hotspots, the inability of the Nigerian state as a whole to protect its citizens becomes more glaring.

Yet, nothing could be worse than the recent imprudent, ill-timed comments of Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda as reported by The Punch and NEXT on Friday, April 29. In an interview with journalists after casting his vote in yesterday’s rescheduled elections in the state, Yuguda said, “as far as I am concerned, these corps members were destined to experience what they experienced during the course of their service to their fatherland because every new day is a new experience to each and every one of us as human beings.

“You cannot hold Yuguda or Bauchi State (responsible) for what happened to those corps members, because it was the responsibility of INEC to take care of them”, he continued carelessly.

Isa Yuguda‘s mindless statements show that he has neglected what is unarguably his most important responsibility as a governor- to ensure the security and well-being of every individual, indigene or not, within the borders of the state. Violent death is not anyone’s destiny, and the governor’s insinuation that the painful deaths of the unfortunate corpers was somehow ‘written in the stars’ is capable of inflaming the situation and prompting reprisals from embittered parties.

If you were not convinced then, now more than ever before, this unfortunate statement should convince you that there is a need to stand up and do something to protect the youth corps members across the country.

This is why The Future Project (which runs The Future Awards), in partnership with the National Youth Council, AIESEC, SleevesUp Nigeria, Friends of Aik, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and the EnoughisEnough Nigeria Coalition, is working to bring a much-desired change to the scheme and character of the NYSC.

In a nationwide campaign, The Future Project and its partners are, through advocacy and lobbying, “implementing a solution-oriented approach that involves: a) engaging government on a policy level to restructure and reform the NYSC in order to protect corps members in the interim and then to completely overhaul the scheme in the long term so that it is actually useful to the nation; and b) supporting this policy engagement with a wide-ranging public and media campaign to ensure pressure is sustained on the government."

At the core of this campaign for change is a petition which is made up of seven major demands geared at protecting youth corpers now and in the future. The petition, which requires 100, 000 signatures, will be forwarded to the Presidency in the hopes that the government of the day will do what it was elected to do- protect the precious citizens of this democratic nation.

This is a cause for saving lifes now and in the future. Show your support now by seeing the 7 point demand and and signing the petition at http://www.thefuturenigeria.com/protectthecorpers/ . There are also other ways you can support this cause on the site. Go ahead, it’s the very least you can do!

#ProtectTheCorpers #ProtectTheFuture

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