Plight of corps members from Uni Ibadan, Nsukka and Benson Idahosa varsities

It’s no longer news that the graduates of the University of Ibadan, Nsukka and Benson Idohosa were expelled from the NYSC orientation camps across the country whenever orientation courses are ongoing.

Around 2019, a friend of mine who had his one-year mandatory service in Yobe State shared with me a painful story that a corps member from Lagos State was expelled from the camp because of a slight mistake encountered on her result which occurred from the university she attended; the problem was, her result doesn’t contain the day of graduation but rather the month and the year only, which is contrary to the NYSC certificate alignment.

Similarly, The Punch newspaper identified four victims of the same problem on November 10, 2022, the corp members were not allowed to participate in the swearing ceremony though they have travelled to the camps from their various states of origin with the view to serve their fatherland.

The identified victims were Ana Bola Oluyimika, a graduate of UI, an indigene of Lagos, Abiodun, a graduate of UI from Ogun State, Chioma from Nigerian University Nsukka, an indigene of Oyo State. One painful thing was, all of them were stranded when they were chased away from the orientation camps. 

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Meanwhile, the NYSC officials had for several years appealed to the over 300 institutions in Nigeria to guarantee the arrangement of their prospective corps members’ data, including date of graduation to tally with the NYSC’s style of date alignment.

Though according to the reports, the registrars of the affected institutions debunk the claim, I think there is a need to dig deep to unravel the truth of the matter hence the graduates have been affected any time an orientation course is taking place; there must be something of such nature happening in those schools no matter how the registrars keep debunking the report and if not then there must be something in hidden or under questions mark.

Finally, we urge the University of Ibadan, Nigerian University Nsukka and Benson Idohosa to urgently do something in no time to stop jeopardizing the lives of their graduates while attending the mandatory one-year service.

Muhammed Yusuf writes from Borno State University