Confusion at NYSC as parents reject postings to troubled states

Boko Haram: Confusion at NYSC as parents reject postings to troubled states.. States such as Yobe, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Plateau are mostly likely to be affected as killings have escalated in those states in the last few weeks in fulfillment of threats by the religious sects members who have promised to bring President Goodluck Jonathan down.

The next few days or weeks promise to be challenging for the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps as campaigns mount for would-be youth corps members to reject their postings to most of the Northern states of the country as a result of increasing attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram group. Already, checks conducted by the Nigeria Politics Online round many institutions of higher learning and the NYSC offices across the country and Abuja indicate that there is unease in the offices as indications have emerged of massive rejections of postings that threaten the continued existence of the scheme. This is even as the House of Representatives is said to be contemplating fresh actions on the modalities for the deployment of corps members to their states of service. The House Committee on Youth, according to an investigation by the Nigeria Politics Online, is set for a meeting during the week with the authorities of the NYSC to discuss the latest challenge as hostilities increase in the affected states.  States such as Yobe, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Plateau are mostly likely to be affected as killings have escalated in those states in the last few weeks in fulfillment of threats by the religious sects members who have promised to bring President Goodluck Jonathan down. Indeed, the Director General of NYSC Brig.-Gen. Nnamdi Okorie-Affia had reportedly expressed frustration two weeks ago in the South-East part of the country during a working tour where he confessed of growing pressure by parents not to post their graduate children to the troubled region.  The scheme, which was established by the Gen. Yakubu Gowon military regime, was aimed at fostering unity within the country. Over the years, it has achieved that through inter-ethnic marriages, business relationships and others. However, the growing schism across the country most especially with recent killings in the North perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect members, has heightened tension, making the place unsafe for both indigenes and non-indigenes. In Bauchi State for instance last year, several NYSC members were killed during the post-election mayhem in the state. In recent times, many states from the South-West and South-East had evacuated their serving indigenes when their safety could not be guaranteed.