Recently, corps members have sent in complaints about the non-payment of their monthly allowances. Many of them rely on the N19, 800 being paid by the Federal Government to survive in remote parts of the country where they are sent to serve their fatherland. The outcry of these corps members have generated a motion for the commencement of a strike tagged ‘Occupy NYSC’.
Below is an article written by a corps member titled ‘NYSC: Allowee is our right’
Sitting with my bowl of Gari, doing justice to breakfast. I’ll have the government know that there is no sugar in it( I am not diabetic), there is no groundnut in it( I am not living in fear of pimples), there is no milk in it( I am not lactose intolerant).
I’ll also have them know that I have served diligently, under the sun and in the rain, with dedication and selflessness like our anthem says, and how have I been rewarded? Not too different from from the way our heroes of yesteryears were, with UNPAID ALLOWEES. Out of six months of service I have rendered to our nation, I have only been deemed fit to receive 2 months allowee( including the one we get in camp that gets spent before 2 weeks elapse). I drink water that has taste(chemistry taught me that good water should be tasteless) because I cant afford to take a bike to the nearest pipe-borne water supply. But should I complain? I think not. Afterall I’m a nigerian, and I recognise the countrys finances have been squeezed thin, by MAD people and the members of their honourable cabal.
I recognise our resources are better spent towards chasing an elusive group of Islamist that are not in any hurry to be caught by an ever understanding judgement. I recognize that the even fewer resources left have to first be shared around the political office holders, their friends, families and any body who woulkd sing their praises to high heavens on various media platforms. I recognise that with millions owed in pensions, millions more in salary arrears of numerous workers across the country, increasing cost of feeding in Aso Rock (I think its something about inadequate governing that makes their stomachs expand), billions spirited away in a brave attempt at catching up with Dangote on the Forbes rich list, there will be little if anything left to pay the Corpers(seeing how low we are on their scale of preference) their allowees.
For many corpers who rely solely on 19,800 to feed, clothe, shuttle to their ppas, attend CDS meetings etc and still hope to save a few thousands , what do they expect us to do? indulge in scams to keep body and soul together? I learnt from a source that the problem is not from the NYSC but from the ministry of finance, but I bet Mr President’s salary for the last month is yet to hit his coffers, I bet our thieving leaders are affected by the Ministry of Finances problem. I bet even the high ranking staffs of the Ministry of Finance are checking their phones for alert or parading ATMs to know if their monthly booty has been delivered.
We are youth corpers, the leaders of tomorrow, why will they not do everything to make us comfortable. With many people already disillusioned with service year, this allowee matter will affect the productivity of corpers in their various PPAs, and Nigerias economy as a whole if you look at the big picture. PLEASE, NIGERIA, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, NYSC, help us to be eager to’ obey the clarion call’ and work hard to ‘lift our nation high’.
The writer blogs at Aderemiadesoji.wordpress.com Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Corps Member need 2 disobey clarion call bcuz we are tired of all these non-sense. FG should do something now or else...
ReplyDeleteDat was a great arcticle. Who eve u ar I luv ur sense of writing
ReplyDeleteIs that a graduate from one of our schools writing? I weep for this country, our educational standards have fallen so low, you have a graduate writing a public letter with so many errors, not typos, grammatical errors => "Staffs", "Corpers" instead of "youth corp members" and more.
ReplyDeleteWe refuse to educate our children properly, our teachers and lecturers prefer to cut corners and we wonder why we produce half baked graduates. Then we send them to remote places without providing for their welfare? and we expect things to change? I think we are setting ourselves up for something here.
We think Boko haram is horrible? Wait till the likes of this guy writing "Staffs" and "Corpers" get really angry.
Its a pity that the Federal Government is owning even Corp members.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous, you really should not blame the person who wrote the Article alone,aren't there people that should proof read Articles before they are published?
ReplyDeletethe fact that he could go wrong in English doesn't make him "half baked" or a quack in whatever field he studied. as a matter of fact, if you have really met some of these programming guys, their English composition really contradicts what they really do technically. Am not disputing the fact that as a graduate you shouldn't write simple Articles correctly, but then there would always be exceptions.
My point is, that you speak/write not too well doesn't make the next guy better than you.Even getting a job in Nigeria today is not just by the English.