By Ikem Okuhu
Those who are finding it convenient to keep quiet over the scandalous National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate scandal involving the now sworn-in Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, do not know how the localisation of the challenge and its perception as the concern of the people of Enugu State has the potential to create a carnivorous national malaise, capable of denuding what arguably is the surviving vestiges of the remaining symbol of Nigeria’s national unity.
At a time when the country should be celebrating the NYSC programme, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, it is most disconcerting that such a historic national landmark has had certificate forgery as its biggest talking point. More worrisome is the fact that some shade of opinion, driven by what looks like selfish political purposes, appears to be bent on allowing this avoidable sore to fester.Even with all its challenges, one
cannot deny the fact that one of the strongest legacies that Nigeria still
holds on to in the difficult, endless journey to unity and integration remains
the NYSC. As political and religious fractures continue to threaten the
wholeness of the country, this programme, initiated by former Head of State,
General Yakubu Gowon, in 1973, has remained the only project that holds the
country together like a stubborn thread.
At this stage in the country’s journey as a
nation, every person who wishes Nigeria to survive should be involved in the
intentional safeguard of all icons, institutions and even some intangibles that
still prescribe and point to national unity; and the NYSC stands tall and
strong among the few that have survived the centrifugal forces threatening to
pull the country apart.
At 50, the NYSC has proven its importance. It has
survived several military interventions, lived through failed and successful
democratic experiments, and helped heal when divisive actors flanked the
country with religious and tribal upheavals.
But nobody expected the sudden and inexplicable
attack that is emanating from the political class and the judiciary. Every
Nigerian, irrespective of class or creed, vocation and avocation should rise in
patriotic collaboration to not only condemn these coordinated attacks but also
work hard to arrest the slide before it is too late.
It is important to stress this because of the
direct implication the fate, good or bad, of the corps could have on the
country’s unity. If the political class is allowed to lead the onslaught
against the NYSC, and if the judiciary lends itself as a tool to downgrade what
was hitherto a sacred national symbol, nothing will be sacrosanct in the
country again.
Before now the NYSC discharge certificate was held
in high esteem by every Nigerian. It was a document people displayed with
pride. The advent of social media of information has highlighted this quite
strongly, as young people proudly display their discharge certificates on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to announce the end of their service to their
fatherland.
People may have taken this for
granted, but the period that marks the end of each service year announces the
end of youth and dependency and heralds the commencement of responsible
adulthood. Many things change in the lives of people at this stage, including
the consciousness that the time has come for those discharged from the scheme
to become economic value creators.
It is this consciousness that triggers the energy
for industry and the quest for careers by young people. And the same way the
Western world celebrates adulthood at 18 or 21, the Nigerian celebrates
maturity with the completion of NYSC.
Many people may not be conscious of it, but the
NYSC discharge certificate is the only one of its type in Nigeria. It is the
only certificate that is uniform for every Nigerian graduate. The secondary
school certificate, though issued by the West African Examinations Council
(WAEC), still bears the name of the secondary school one graduated from.
Each
bachelor’s degree belongs to and bears the name of the university that issued
it. But only the NYSC certificate of discharge is uniform for all those who
participate in the compulsory national service. Of further significance is the
fact that this certificate bears the watermark, “Federal Republic of Nigeria”
all over its surface, highlighting the connection between it and the Nigerian
nation.
It is, however, saddening to witness the
relentless attacks against such an important institution by persons and
institutions, who otherwise should owe the corps the duty of protection and
preservation. It is impossible for the vegetable plant to survive when the
insect that is eating it lives inside of it. In the same way, the surging
battalion is imperiled if the general commanding it leads them into an enemy
enclave.
This is what we are currently witnessing in
Nigeria, where a person whose participation in the compulsory national
programme is in question has been sworn in as governor of a state. And even as
the matter is still in court, he has shockingly received some major leverage
from the Nigerian judiciary that, through the instrumentality of a court, has
ordered the NYSC and its agents to stop commenting on a certificate that it
has, through the lawful opportunities provided by the Freedom of Information
Act, repudiated what this person presented as his discharge certificate as part
of qualifications to stand for election.
In a matter of months, “Governor” Peter Ndubuisi
Mbah of Enugu State, will, if he so pleases, mount the podium at the NYSC
Orientation Camp in Awgu, to take the salute from corps members that would
either be completing their onboarding programme or are being discharged after
completing their full year of national service.
One would be forced to wonder what Governor Mbah
would be thinking behind the privacy of his mind, about those young people
given that during his own time as a youth, he allegedly refused to perform this
national duty, as letters from the NYSC, and the public statement of its
Director-General, has suggested.
If Nigeria was not a country at war
against its own systems and processes; a country where the financially mighty
are always right and incapable of doing wrong, the person currently sitting as
the governor of Enugu State should have either voluntarily given up that
position, or duly prevented from such Olympian ascent by the systems and
institutions of the state.
At 50, NYSC should not be facing such a battle by
someone who would rather prevent the institution from engaging the public on
what clearly looks like a case of forgery of its certificate than prove that he
did serve his country, just like every other university graduate who wished to
take up public office has done from 1973 till date. By his actions, Governor
Peter Mbah is actually telling Nigerians that the NYSC has outlived its
usefulness. More worrisome is also the implied message that one can circumvent
anything in Nigeria. Anything!
This should worry every Nigerian, particularly as
we all reflect on this landmark year of this national institution. It is
obvious that the integrity of the NYSC and what it represents to the Nigerian
nation is under attack, and I dare say that no one should feign indifference or
nonchalant because the implications of destroying the authority of the NYSC or
any other certificate-awarding body or school to remain the only voice for
authentication will be far-reaching and dangerous for everyone.
One does not need to be reminded that a
certificate is not the property of the person to whom it was awarded. On the
contrary, a certificate legally and rightfully belongs to the awarding
institution. It is only held to the extent that the holder remains worthy, as
determined by the awarding institution, based on certain prescribed character
parameters.
In the case of Governor Mbah, the awarding
institution has made it clear, verbally and in writing that the certificate he
parades was not issued by it. The struggle therefore, to force the NYSC to
admit having issued a certificate they have so serially disclaimed, cannot lead
anywhere else but a regime of devaluation of the NYSC and by extension, all
certificate-awarding institutions in Nigeria.
Mbah would not be the first to
attempt this circumvention. Quite a number of people had tried it in the past
but were either checked by the system or admitted wrongdoing and slunk out. But
rather than toe this path, it seems the Enugu governor wants the Nigerian
system to bow to him. His bravado and attempts to bully the NYSC to submit to
his desires suggest nothing else.
If he is allowed to get away with this, what it
means is that the system is encouraging people to sidestep virtually all
official quarters of obtaining certificates in Nigeria thereby rendering
certificates obtained in Nigeria worthless.
And that is why I said at the start that seeing
this challenge as one that affects Enugu State alone is dangerous. Nigeria is
being put on trial. Our School certificates, our fancy Bachelor’s, Master’s and
Doctorate degrees are all in grave danger of derecognition. When it happens, it
would be happening to all Nigerians, rather than to just those from Enugu State.
Fifty is a great milestone for the NYSC. Let us
celebrate this. But more importantly, let us rise against any person, persons,
institution, and/or institutions that, covertly or otherwise, has, is, or could
do something to tar the hard-won reputation of this institution, perhaps the
only of its kind remaining in Nigeria, that is without blemish.
*Okuhu, a Marketing Communications practitioner, lives in
Lagos.
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