NYSC decides to get tough with graduates who refuse to serve after graduating

NATIONAL Youth Service Corps (NYSC) officials have announced fresh plans to prosecute graduates who do not do their mandatory one year service or present themselves for the scheme’s mobilisation after the completion of their studies.

Established way back in the early 1970s, the NYSC was designed to forge national unity by getting graduates to serve the nation for a year in a location away from their own state of origin. As part of a plan to combat avoidance, NYSC officials are now working with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

NYSC director-general, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim, disclosed this new aggressive approach in Abuja today. He unveiled the new policy during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the NSCDC and the NYSC for the prosecution of its criminal cases.

Major General Ibrahim said: “The NYSC will henceforth prosecute Nigerian graduates who refuse to present themselves for mobilisation for national service after completion of their studies. Section 13 Sub Section 1(a) and (b) of the NYSC bye-laws empowers the service corps to prosecute offenders.”

He added that in 2018, the NYSC had said it would sanction employers suspected to aid and abet evasion of service and other misconducts among corps members posted to their organisations to carry out their primary assignments. Major General Ibrahim, however, noted that the NYSC had encountered problems in previous attempts to prosecute its cases but was upbeat that the partnership with the NSCDC will help its support those nagging challenges.

Among other things, Major General Ibrahim commended the NSCDC for spearheading the discovery and dismantling of a fake NYSC Camp 11 years ago as well as the successful prosecution of the culprits. In his remarks, the NSCDC commandant-general Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi assured the NYSC of the readiness of his organisation to assist the scheme in the pursuit of its mandate and promised to ensure that the partnership yielded the desired objectives.