BARELY 12 days to the commencement of 2015 Batch ‘A’ Orientation Course of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), there seems to be palpable tension at the Petroleum Training Institute ( PTI), Effurun, in Delta State, South-South Nigeria; Abia State University (ABSU) Uturu, in Abia State, South-East Nigeria and the Lagos State University, Ojo, in Lagos State, South-West Nigeria. Vanguard Learning gathered that graduates of these institutions are uneasy over what they described as fear of not being mobilised for the 21-day NYSC Orientation Course, which will hold between Tuesday, May 5 and 26, 2015, at various orientation camps across the 36 States, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). LASU’s case At LASU, Vanguard Learning, gathered that even though the graduating students have been mobilised for the 2015 Batch ‘’A’’ service year, several of them may miss the May 5 orientation course, because of the ongoing imbroglio between the university management and its chapter staff unions- the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Union of Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU). The issues border on staff welfare, running of the university among others. Recall that sequel to the general elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11 respectively, LASU authorities had in a statement on Monday, March 23, directed students and staff to vacate the campus immediately, on a recess, while the resumption date will be announced later.
It was gathered that the recess was necessary to allay the fears of parents who wanted their children to vacate the campus during elections. Before the recess declaration, majority of the 2013/2014 graduating set were yet to complete the school’s compulsory six-pronged Clearance Procedure, which must go through the following units such as Library, Faculty, Bursary, Sports, Students Affairs and the Internal Audit. Every LASU graduate must pass through these units before he or she gets his or her Statement of Result (SoR), a mandatory document for corp members to be allowed into the Orientation camp.
As at the time of filing this report, several graduating students were yet to get their Statement of Results, even as majority of them were yet to complete the clearance processes, as their clearance forms were still stalled in one of the six units, manned by NASU and SSANU members who are unavailable because of the recess. Impending crisis These development, Vanguard gathered has not gone down well with the graduating students, who have continued to threaten fire and brimstone over this delay. However, to avert any impending crisis, the Registrar of the school, Mr. Akinwunmi Lewis, in a meeting with the Students Union Government (SUG) on Monday, April 6, directed the graduating students who have not submitted their clearance forms to submit to the SUG President for onward delivery to his office for immediate facilitation.
Apparently worried by this unusual procedure, one of the student leaders, Comrade Olasukanmi Arowolo, said: “The university Registrar had asked the graduating students who are yet to commence their clearance procedure to submit their forms to the students union representatives, who will further submit the forms to his (Registrar) office. It is only the Registrar that knows how the students’ clearance forms will be sorted out. For me, I think the university authorities have a lot in their hands, as a free-for-all clearance procedure may see some students cutting corners, especially as regards their financial status in the school.” PTI’s case At PTI, Effurun, the graduating students have chided the management over what they described as its lackadaisical attitude in jeopardising their mobilisation for the May 5 NYSC orientation exercise. Vanguard Learning gathered that since August 2014, when the students finished their final examinations for Higher National Diploma (HND 2), they had found it difficult to generate their JAMB Registration numbers, which they are required to upload via the NYSC website in order to generate their Call-up numbers and letters. Speaking on behalf of the affected graduating students, one of the student leaders who pleaded anonymity said: “We the aggrieved graduating students of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, are on the verge of missing out as prospective 2015 Batch ‘’A’’ corps member. We refuse the agenda and scheme of PTI management and the Student Affairs Division towards putting our service year in jeopardy due to their lackadaisical and lukewarm attitude to work. 394 affected Speaking further, he said: “It is painful that for no fault of ours, our service year has automatically been truncated, as we are already unable to fulfil the requirement to join our counterparts from other institutions in the forthcoming orientation exercise, this May. For crying out loud, we graduated in August 2014, even ahead of our counterparts in other institutions, so why are we yet to be mobilised? Why is it difficult to generate our JAMB Registration numbers, to enable us generate our Call-up number and letter via the NYSC website? “For God’s sake, just about 394 of us are so far affected, including fresh graduates and spillovers.
This is not even up to the number of students that make up a faculty in an average university or polytechnic. Enough of this injustice. Graduates of other schools are already mobilised awaiting the clarion call of our father’s land. So, we are aggrieved and therefore calling on the attention of the Federal Government , PTI governing council, and Federal Ministry Education to urgently look into this matter, before we take laws into our hands.” Meanwhile, upon contacting PTI Student Affairs Officer, Prince Audu Oshiokomole said: “I am not authorised to speak on this matter. The best person to speak is the Registrar.” ABSU’s case Also, one of the graduating students of ABSU, Uturu, Emeka Emecheta, similarly faced with this appaling crisis decried that graduates from departments of Political Science, Economics, Biochemistry, Microbiology among have not been mobilised for the one-year mandatory service. Emecheta said: “It is so sad that in Abia State University, Uturu, you graduate as a student but one thing or the other stops you from being mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps. Since 2008, in my department-Political Science, graduates have not been mobilised for service. I got admission in 2010 and graduated November 2014.
But as I speak, my colleagues and I don’t even know our fate, we don’t even know when we will be serving our father-land. “As victims of this unfortunate trend, we have severally sought the attention of the management under the Vice-Chancellorship of Prof. Chibuzo Ogbuagu, but our cries have fallen on deaf ears. We are thus calling on the State Governor, Theodore Orji to wade into this crisis as a matter of urgency”
Vanguard.
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