‘We can't stop posting corps members to the North’

By ADAEZE AMOS

Olubunmi Stella, a graduate of Lagos State University (LASU), is a field officer of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC. Her job, she says, entails a lot.

“My job takes me around to places where corps members are posted, under different employers to see how they are faring, wheth­er they are serious with what they are assigned to do. I do check on them on a daily basis. Sometimes I go to their employers to find out their opinions about them. The reason is for them to put all their efforts in what they ought to be doing for the whole year that their service would last,” she explained.

Though she enjoys her job, this mother and wife did not rule out the challenges she is confronted with.

“The major challenge has to do with locating places they are post­ed. My duty is to locate them wherever they are in order to oversee what they are doing. At times, the corps members relocate without our knowledge and it is still my duty to find out where they are. That is the major problem. You get at a place and they tell you that corps members posted there had been reassigned without my knowledge. I would now take the new address and start looking for the person. But all the same, I still enjoy my job. I’m happy with what I’m doing. You know corps members are intelligent people, they are graduates from different universities and higher institutions, different back­grounds, places, families and different cultures. So, what I like is the way and manner they interact with me. I’m usually happy being in their midst. They know I’m there for them and they interact with me well. They feel at home with me and that gives me joy,” she ex­plained.

About the corps members posted to the North, she has some words bearing in mind the insurgency which has been a problem in the country for some years now.

“My advice to them is to restrict their movements to their envi­ronment, to wherever they are posted. When you start changing your posting, the intension of the service is defeated. You know what the NYSC is all about, to bring us all together. So, if you are posted to the North, remain there but listen to instructions from your state coordinator, restrict your movements, don’t leave the camp without permission, or go to places you don’t know and always be security conscious. The idea of posting northerners to the North and south­erners to the South cannot happen in view of the aim and objective of NYSC. It was created after the civil war, so the aim is to bring ev­erybody together and share love among ourselves,” Olubunmi said.

How good is it that after spending several years in school, you are posted to a volatile area where your life is threatened?

“No one is happy about that at all, that is why when they apply for relocation they are attended to without hesitation. But the truth is that they can’t stop posting corps members to the North because it is part of our country,” she said.

Olubunmi mentioned a major issue the Federal Government needs to pay adequate attention right now. “I think the area of skills and acquisition needs more attention. We have what is called SAED (Skill Acquisition Entrepreneur and Development). This has been on for about three years now. I would like government to pump in money there to encourage NYSC because SAED is mandatory now. This enables corps members to learn skills before the service year is over. This is needed because when a corps member finishes her ser­vice and couldn’t get a job, she wouldn’t have to depend on anyone to make a living. This is the area where I want government to help,” she advised.

Advising NYSC members, she chose to speak mainly to the fe­male ones.

“It is the moral aspect of their lifestyles that I would love to talk about. I don’t like the idea of a lady, for instance, walking about look­ing for a man to get money from at all costs. You know what I mean when I said at all costs. That is not why she went to university. My advice to you (all female members) is that you should try and keep yourselves and pray to get to whatever level you want to in life.

“The reason is that any blunder or mistake you commit now can affect you in life. Live your lives bearing moral in mind. If you think that service time is when to sleep around with moneybags you just got it wrong. I’m saying this because we have had cases of some la­dies falling into the hands of men who are into rituals. So, ladies be careful and desist from doing things you would regret at last…a lifestyle that would ruin you in future.

“It infuriates me when I hear some of the females discussing among themselves where they would like to be posted so that they would buy car and live big. My questions to any lady who has this mindset is, where do you think you want to get money to buy a car? If not hoping on rich men? Please desist from such a lifestyle,” she counselled.

She stressed: “Even in orientation camps, watch how you be­have. You shouldn’t be morally bankrupt. Maintain your integrity because integrity is everything. I say this because most of them in orientation camps are not married; so if you come into a camp and behave well, you may likely get your husband there. The male corps members too are watching, wanting to know who the wife materials are. Camps are good grounds for people to meet their spouses,” she said.

She didn’t leave out parents of those whose wards are posted to the North.

“Please such parents should try and bear with us. Why they were posted there is because we don’t want to separate this country. None of them is posted there to go and die. Remember that our brothers and sisters in the North are also part of us, so we can’t rule out the fact that no one should be posted there. So, our duty as parents is to talk to our children before going there to curtail their movements. That they should remain wherever they are asked to and they should always be vigilant.

“The problem is that most of them feel that the time of service is for freedom, hence they go to places they are not supposed to. Advise them to go to work wherever they are assigned for their primary assignments and after work, they come back to their house. They shouldn’t move about unnecessarily. There is need for them to be disciplined and vigilant,” the NYSC supervisor emphasised.