Back when I still was a little kid, I remember seeing a picture of my aunt during her time at the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), which is a one year program that every graduate has to undertake in order to be fully considered a graduate. In that photo, my aunt was in a forest, surrounded by trees.
I remember looking at that picture and telling my dad that I had no plans of going for service when the time comes because I was scared that I was going to be sent to the forest where there were wild animals and reptiles that could kill me. Each time I think of that day, I can't help it but laugh because whatever I thought the National Youth Service was back then, it's way more better than what it is now.
Unfortunately, I haven't really gone for my youth service yet (hopefully I will later this year or early next year), so my knowledge about it is very limited, mere hearsay, but if there's one thing I know for sure about it, it is the fact that corruption has eaten deep into it.
I remember the first time I heard about the Korean military conscription that lasts for about eighteen to twenty one months (I'm not sure), how fascinated I was to find out that every male had to go for that training, or at least undertake four weeks of national service, or three weeks with the Marine Corps.
Compared to that, I don't think the Nigerian youth service stands a chance because you see, how it works is that you first get assigned to one of the 36 states in Nigeria, a process that original was suppose to be random but now some people tend to pay to be sent to a state of their choice. So right from the very beginning, corruption is already at play.
Then after that, you get to spend three weeks at a National Youth Service camp, whatever happens here is something I have little to no information about but what I do know is that after that three weeks, you get posted to a place where you're expected to serve for the next twelve months.
But based on what I've seen from most of the people around here, the majority of them don't even get to serve one day of the entire twelve months. They instead make a deal with those in charge of wherever it is they were posted to, a deal where they don't get to work and instead of getting punished for it, those they've made deals with cover for them.
And then at the end of twelve months, everyone gets a certificate and it's almost as if nothing happened. Although I would also like to put it out there that not everyone goes down this route, some of them do get to serve diligently but some of them don't, they just get to sit at home doing nothing why the government pays them every month.
It's things like this that makes the service a joke, and also why some people are asking for it to be scrapped. Do I agree with them? I honestly don't know.