Security: NYSC Threatens To Withdraw Corps Members From INEC Duties
The
collaboration between the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may be heading for the
rock, as the NYSC has threatened to scale down the corps members’
involvement in any electoral duties if INEC did not provide proof that
it will ensure their safety and welfare.
NYSC director-general, Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, in a strong-worded remark when the INEC chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega paid him a courtesy visit in his office yesterday, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that both parties signed before the last election was one-sided and did not cater enough for the safety and welfare of corps members deployed for electoral duties.
Okorie-Affia said: “I agree that there is an urgent need to review the MoU to make it more NYSC friendly. As far as I am concerned, the MoU is one-sided; it does not cater enough for the safety and welfare of corps members deployed in the electoral duties. We in NYSC will ask for a justifiable proof for the preparedness of INEC to put in place measures that will ensure the safety and the well-being of corps members that we may work with for electoral duties with INEC.
“If INEC cannot give a justifiable proof, we may on our own begin to scale down the involvement of this corps members in any electoral ventures, whether in the local government, state or federal level,” he assured.
The DG, who further urged INEC to match its word with action on corps members’ welfare during electoral duties, said: “When Nigerian graduates were mobilised from the various universities for service, sending them to states other than where they come from, for the purpose of unity and integration of the country, lining them up and killing them is not part of the agenda of the NYSC.
“For some of us who study History, at the height of the Roman power, captives were assembled in an arena and wild animals set upon them to the amusement of the elite. Our corps members in Nigeria are free-born, not captives; we will therefore not allow them to be thrown into any arena for wild animals to be feasted upon for the entertainment of some political elite in the name of national service.”
Earlier, Profession Jega had reassured him that INEC would provide additional motivation and work closely with security agencies to ensure that there is greater security for the NYSC embers deployed during electoral duties.
“We in INEC look forward to a very close and good relationship with the NYSC, as we continue to drive the electoral process and consolidate the gains of free fair and credible elections in our country,” he said.
While suggesting the possibility of integrating a training programme into the NYSC curriculum relating to electoral process in the orientation course of the scheme, he urged the bi-literal committee of both agencies to strengthen and fine-tune the MoU to make it more effective.
NYSC director-general, Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, in a strong-worded remark when the INEC chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega paid him a courtesy visit in his office yesterday, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that both parties signed before the last election was one-sided and did not cater enough for the safety and welfare of corps members deployed for electoral duties.
Okorie-Affia said: “I agree that there is an urgent need to review the MoU to make it more NYSC friendly. As far as I am concerned, the MoU is one-sided; it does not cater enough for the safety and welfare of corps members deployed in the electoral duties. We in NYSC will ask for a justifiable proof for the preparedness of INEC to put in place measures that will ensure the safety and the well-being of corps members that we may work with for electoral duties with INEC.
“If INEC cannot give a justifiable proof, we may on our own begin to scale down the involvement of this corps members in any electoral ventures, whether in the local government, state or federal level,” he assured.
The DG, who further urged INEC to match its word with action on corps members’ welfare during electoral duties, said: “When Nigerian graduates were mobilised from the various universities for service, sending them to states other than where they come from, for the purpose of unity and integration of the country, lining them up and killing them is not part of the agenda of the NYSC.
“For some of us who study History, at the height of the Roman power, captives were assembled in an arena and wild animals set upon them to the amusement of the elite. Our corps members in Nigeria are free-born, not captives; we will therefore not allow them to be thrown into any arena for wild animals to be feasted upon for the entertainment of some political elite in the name of national service.”
Earlier, Profession Jega had reassured him that INEC would provide additional motivation and work closely with security agencies to ensure that there is greater security for the NYSC embers deployed during electoral duties.
“We in INEC look forward to a very close and good relationship with the NYSC, as we continue to drive the electoral process and consolidate the gains of free fair and credible elections in our country,” he said.
While suggesting the possibility of integrating a training programme into the NYSC curriculum relating to electoral process in the orientation course of the scheme, he urged the bi-literal committee of both agencies to strengthen and fine-tune the MoU to make it more effective.
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