The mandatory service in my country is the National Youth Service Corps, widely referred to as NYSC. Every Nigerian is aware that once a person is done with the higher institution, he or she would be required to go for NYSC via posting from his or her institution. This mandatory service then lasts for a period of one year and a stipend popularly known as allowee is being paid into the person's account.
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To be very honest, I cannot fathom the reason a person is asked to go for NYSC. Each citizen serves the country to the best of their abilities during elections, through taxes, and other tangible means. I cannot understand why a person has to be kept in camp for two weeks most especially then transferred to a PPA in remote localities all in the name of serving one's country.
I am not against the NYSC, no, as a matter of fact, I heard that it is the easiest place to meet with people and form valuable connections and alliances as you become an adult. This very fact alone makes me look forward to it. However, I just don't see the point.
Most times, before people get into NYSC, they already earn hundreds of thousands more than the stipend they are being given, they have adjusted to a more comfortable or elaborate lifestyle, and then during NYSC, they are expected to go below their financial and physical standards just to serve the country.
Maybe NYSC should not be scrapped out, like I said earlier, I have heard stories that it has its own benefits. However, for people who it would rather be burdensome for, I believe its duration should be reduced.
Many people are posted to regions where they can barely even survive. A lot of people go to NYSC and for a full year of their lives, they are unhappy because of the state of the places they are expected to serve their country. It is largely unfair and nobody should be subjected to a year of unhappiness because they want to serve their country.
I would have opted for the ‘scrap it out’ option but it is necessary to serve one's country. It is the only opportunity some people will ever get so instead, the duration should be reduced. This would make people who had functioning lives before they surrendered it all to the service of their country to get back to whatever they had going on.
Now since serving the country does not guarantee that one has a secure future, especially job-wise, I think it is only fair that the government allows its citizens to scout for jobs during this period of serving their country. Or better still, provide a means where this service to the country results in job employments for if not all, the majority of the corpers.
I know that there are some organizations that retain corpers and there are some that don't, but these people's lives should not be lived on probability. Not after a full year of service to their country.
Personally, I wouldn't want to go for NYSC if I could.
I would want to stay back after my last academic year and reflect on my life then begin my journey into independence and adulthood proper. I would love to take that time to make plans for my future instead of going to camp, I would also love to scout for well-paying jobs; online of course, but since it is a mandatory service, I am left with little or no choice.
Perhaps there are people who would beg to disagree with me for their own reasons, but I am speaking based on what I have heard over time, and I know that more than half of the country's youths would prefer NYSC either scrapped or reduced in duration.
If it is made more conducive following the places the youths are posted to, or the allowee they receive, I'm certain that NYSC would be a more conducive situation for the majority of the masses.
Again, NYSC could be made optional. For the people who would really want the experience not minding the state of the location they are being posted to or the amount they are being paid, they should be given an opportunity to have that experience. And for those who do not feel like they need to leave their lives for a whole year in order to serve their country, they too should be taken into consideration and allowed to stay back from the service. Terms and conditions would apply to those people of course.
In the end, the needs and wants of the citizens should also be taken into consideration when enforcing mandatory service. This would make the whole experience much better in my opinion.