Open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari

BY VICTOR ADEDAYO

Dear sir,

I am writing this letter without expecting any form of response whatsoever but for the sake of posterity, so that it would be said of me that I never kept mute when the rights of fellow youths were insulted and trampled upon; for “the man died in everyone who remained silent in the face of tyranny and oppression”.

Couple of days ago, hundreds of institutions across the country made it known to their prospective corps members the directives of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to slash the number of graduates to be mobilized for the scheme. This however, created panic and hysteria among prospective corps member across the country.

Frankly, the economic situation of the country, which has been the major cause of this development, is understandable but to slash the numbers of prospective corps members being mobilized for the scheme is unbearable and a great disservice to the country. The scheme has further insulted the intelligence of the masses by putting up a disclaimer against slashing of allowances in order to mask the supposed development.

I humbly suggest that the duration of NYSC be reduced from one year to six months to allow adequate budgetary and funding for the scheme. Slashing of students is detrimental to the moral and social value of the proposed corps members. For example, an institution that has successfully graduated over 2,000 students being mandated to mobilize just 500 students would give room for jobless and idle handed 1,500 students who may end up being perpetrators of various errs in the society (God forbid).

We expect prompt action on this development.

Thanks.

Victor Adedayo

Cc: NYSC National Coordinator

Cc: Minister of Youth and Sport Development

Cc: Clerk of the Senate

Adedayo is a writer, a blogger and a social entrepreneur