Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Former deputy director, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Cyril Akhaneme, has said that the Nigerian politicians must develop the political will to sustain the dream and vision of the founding father of the scheme which are Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.
He disclosed this while speaking as a guest speaker on the occasion of the NYSC public lecture in commemoration of the scheme’s 50 years anniversary held in Benin.
The theme is “Five decades of fostering national unity and development”.
Akhaneme said the scheme has survived 50 years of its existence and has contributed immensely to the country by fostering national unity but wonder what may happen to it in the next 50 years to come.
“if we have this problem that we are having now, first, centrifugal forces wanted to tear this nation apart, but when they remember that their brothers and sisters are in a place that are not theirs, they will say no, let us not carry out anything that will harm them but the NYSC is existing in a political space where ethnicity has become a bane of our society.
“Except we have the political will to say no to ethnicity, no to insecurity, no to religious bigotry, I am afraid of the NYSC in the next 50 years.
“The first 50 years have been good despite all the problems.
“We have succeeded in building bridges, we have succeeded in bridging the gaps of ethnicity.
“If NYSC must project into the next 50 years, political leadership must get it right because in the last 50 years, it has been a success story”, Akhaneme said.
The former deputy director of the scheme said the NYSC is still surviving today because it was a programme centred on the people adding that any programmes centred on the people usually stand the test of time.
He admonished corps members to use the scheme to better their lots, build bridges and unify the country the more.
For the Edo State scheme coordinator, Oladeinde Foluke, she said it has been 50 solid years down memory lane and the scheme has faithfully trod on the heels of Nigeria seeking to deliver its mandate through specified objectives.
She said the scheme has since inception, recorded numerous landmarks achievements in the area of national unity and integration as well as other spheres such as healthcare delivery, rural infrastructure, mass literacy, education, sports and other social services.