Some Nigerians in Abuja have expressed mixed feelings on the
deleting of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Decree from the 1999
Constitution.
The development came up in the recent Senate review and
consideration of 33 Bills for passage.
The bills are contained in the report of the Joint Committee
of the National Assembly on the review of the 1999 Constitution.
In their separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Abuja, while some welcome the development, others expressed concern on
its consequences in the lives of youths and national development.
Mrs Ene Ede, Gender Advisor, National Democratic Institute
(NDI), said the development would allow the democratic process to become more
participatory, inclusive, accessible and responsive to the needs and
aspirations of the people.
Ede also said that it would prevent rigidity within the
domain of parliamentarians who the citizens were not sure had their common
interest at heart.
“My problem with Nigeria is that sometimes people can take
advantage of lapses in processes.
“Altering the constitution to delete certain decrees can
mean various things. My fear in this is that, it may be taken advantage of.
“Imagine if someone is not in support of gender equity and
then he decides to suggest something that is against women, how do you now
balance this.
“We are also suffering from religious and ethnic bias in
this country, so the most important thing for me is inclusiveness.
“If the process is transparent, inclusive, accountable,
gender sensitive, responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people and
driven by the people then, it is good,” Ede said.
Mr Abdulrazak Salawu, the NYSC, FCT Coordinator, said
deleting the decree guiding the NYSC from the 1999 constitution would expose
the scheme to unnecessary dangers.
Salawu said it was because the NYSC decree was in the
constitution that allowed it to be sustained through the years, making it grow
and evolve in its activities, including addressing youth unemployment.
He urged the NASS not to toy with the NYSC decree.
Salawu said altering the constitution would give room for
individuals and groups to ‘toy’ with the mandate and guiding principles of the
scheme which had sustained it.
He said this would also be counterproductive to the growth,
development and process of the country and youths which the scheme had tried to
support.
“If the NYSC Decree is deleted from the constitution, it
will cause a lot of problems because we are not easily objective in our
decisions in this country.
“An individual can just choose to be subjective for his or
her own interest. If we do this, we will be toying with the lives and the
future of the Nigerian youths.
“NYSC is the only youth development programme set up by the
Federal Government that has been sustained over the years.
“We should not toy with the future of the youth. NYSC is
currently playing pivotal role in youth development, implementation of
government policies, promotion of inter-tribal marriages for national
integration and unity.
“Everyone is a stakeholder in this scheme because it
involves all and do not forget that even developed countries and most African
countries are coming to Nigeria indicating interest in the NYSC.
“Nigeria is a consultant in youth development for most
African countries as they wish to duplicate NYSC in their various countries, so
we need to be careful with how we handle this.
“Our doors have been open and continue to be open for us to
engage in Public Private Partnership (PPP) with individuals, agencies and
organisations interested in youth development.
“So, all stakeholders are already involved in the scheme.”
He urged NASS not to ignore the role and contribution of the
NYSC to the growth and development of Nigeria which may be affected if the
decree guiding and guarding it was altered.
Also, Alhaji Isa Hussaini, a media consultant, who also
welcome development however, said that the process involved in amending the
constitution, was often cumbersome.
He suggested that before deleting the decree from the
constitution, it should be strengthened in such a way that no individual, no
matter the position, could alter the law.
According to Hussaini, when the NYSC decree is deleted from
the constitution before it can be amended, there should be public hearing
involving stakeholders.
“I think having NYSC in the constitution is good but the
world is evolving and things are changing, we also need to change with the
times and amend the constitution in line with the dynamic nature of the
society.
“I think it is better to remove it from the constitution and
set up an act of parliament to guide the institution.
“The law should, however, be strengthened in such a way that
no President or individual can come in to make changes as it suits him or her.
“The NYSC has really helped parents in terms of keeping
their children engaged, training them in various skills and providing monthly
stipends for them.
Mr Tony Madaki, a lecturer at the Nassarawa State
Polytechnic, Keffi, urged the NASS to only amend the relevant section of the
constitution as it affected the NYSC but leave the scheme in the constitution.
Madaki said this would allow the scheme to remain protected
and relevant to the growth and development of the youth and the nation.
“The scheme has always been protected by the constitution
and I think this should remain so.
“For me, I feel that any relevant section of the
constitution that needs amendment should be amended, but the NYSC decree should
be allowed to remain in the constitution.
No comments: