A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS PROGRAMME AND ITS EFFECT ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework
• Empirical Review

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1.1 History and Rationale of NYSC

However, the government eventually decided on only the compulsory national youth service with the promulgation on May 22, 1973 of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Decree 24 of 1973, “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity” (Enegwea and Umoden 1993, 10-11). It is therefore clear from these statements that the overriding raison d’etre of service here was not essentially about the intrinsic value of service, but about what service can do, that is, what results from the process of service. Yet, it is interesting that in the official objectives of the scheme as contained in the enabling legislation, the latter was secondary, while the former constitute the primary goals of the scheme. Indeed only one of the objectives was explicit on this key goal of national unity. What may be deduced from this is that the other objectives are expected to key into this overriding basis of the scheme, given that as crucial ways of producing active citizens, their end result would be the promotion of national unity.

Eligibility for the one year service under this scheme according to the NYSC Decree 1973 included any Nigerian citizen who (from the inception of the programme in the 1972-73 academic session) shall have graduated from a university in Nigeria or (from the 1974-1974 academic session) outside Nigeria, or (from the 1975-76 academic year) shall have obtained the Higher national Diploma (HND) or the National Certificate of Education (NCE) or any other professional qualification as may be prescribed. The 30 years age limit removed in 1977 was restored by Decree No. 21 of 1985 which amended this instrument. At inception, the service was compulsory for those who were 30 years old and below, but voluntary for those above 30. The 1985 amendment also removed holders of NCE from the list of eligible corps members.

In pursuance of the ‘objectives of forging unity, integration and inter-ethnic understanding’, corps members are posted to states other than their own and outside their cultural boundaries to ensure that the corps members (popularly called ‘corpers’) ‘learn the ways of life of other Nigerians, and imbibe a more liberal outlook in preparation for their role as future leaders of this country’ (Enegwea and Umoden 1993, 15). As Enegwea and Umoden (Ibid, 4) note, in all these one major objective of the scheme that is often ignored, perhaps because it is not expressly stated in the enabling instrument, is that of raising ‘a leadership class of which the country can be genuinely proud, a class amongst the educated youth which is patriotic, morally and physically disciplined and truly nationalistic. The members of this class, having gone through the triple liberating experience of higher education, national service and exposure to other cultures, would then act as change agents, social catalysts to take the county to the Promised Land of Unity’ (emphases added).

The ‘triple process’ is expected to liberate the informed and cultivated individual (through higher education), the dutiful citizen-patriot (through national service) and the nationalistic subject (through exposure to other cultures) ostensibly lurking in the Nigerian youth towards the actualization of a national imaginary, which Enegwea and Umoden (Ibid) describe as the ‘promised land of unity’, or what others are wont to describe as ‘Nigeria’s manifest destiny’. Central to this is the idea of youth as symbol of hope for the future (Giroux 1996, in Youniss and Yates 1997, 4) and supervening this ‘triple process’ is the idea enunciated by Moskos (1988, 7) that every ‘civic-oriented national-service program must ultimately rest on some kind of enlightened patriotism’. The Guardian, a Nigerian newspaper, was therefore succinct in an editorial when it described the overall goal of the scheme as the development of ‘an educated, nationally oriented Nigerian citizenry’.

The scheme consists of four phases: Mobilization; Orientation; Primary Assignment and Community Development Service; and Winding up Activities and Passing-Out-Parade. The key fields to which corps members were to be deployed as mentioned in the enabling decree included hospitals, farms, water-schemes, road construction, surveying and mapping, social and economic services, schools, food storage and pest eradication, rehabilitation centers, sports development, government departments and statutory corporations, development projects of local councils and the private sector of the economy (Iyizoba 1982, 4). Initially, the service was divided into primary and secondary assignments. For the primary assignment, each of the corps members was deployed to perform his national service in a field relevant to his qualification. The secondary assignment takes four weeks and involves mobilization in groups to perform community and rural development in various locations (Ibid).

A three-week orientation program ‘designed to give corps members a proper understanding of the scheme’s goals and ensure that they internalize its ideals’ (Enegwea and Umoden, 1993, 53) is the first phase of the program consisting of citizenship and leadership training, which are in two parts, drill and non-drill. The non-drill activities were initially provided by instructors from the Citizenship and Leadership Training Center, including such activities as rope climbing, rock scrambling, adventure trips, solo survival schemes, swimming, canoeing and first aid. The Army is in charge of the drill activities. At inception, the corps members expected the drilling to include some elementary military training, but were disappointed. Three decades after, commentators still demand military training for the corps members. As one former participant in the scheme articulates it, “there should be greater emphasis on military training as a sort of countervailing force against future coups”.

However, it did not come as a shock that a deeply politicized military that was intent on monopoly of political power, which partly depended on a tamed citizenry, would be reluctant to encourage dispersal of knowledge of, and training in, weaponry systems even of the most elementary forms. Even the first head of the programme, an academic, had stated that he could not understand why the Federal Military Government (FMG) refused flatly to include basic military training in the drill activities, but he suspected that it could be because ‘it was thought that this would give the NYSC products countervailing power vis-à-vis the military administration’ (Adedeji, n.d., 30).

Furthermore, initially, the orientation programme included a series of lectures on the history, politics and administration, economics and ideology of Nigeria. While this would serve as further knowledge for those who were graduates of the social sciences and were therefore already familiar with these, it constituted a broadening of knowledge for the majority of the corps members who were not from a social science background. The lectures were to emphasize ‘national unity and nation building, our common heritage in spite of our diversity, the emerging ideology of Nigeria, continuity in the aspirations of Nigerian leaders and people, the growing significance of the public sector and its control of strategic economic sectors…and the special position of Nigerian in the Black World’ (Ibid, 30-1, emphasis added). The lecture program was to be rounded off by examining the role of the Nigerian Youth in ‘(a) promoting national unity and integration; (b) accelerating the pace of economic and social development; (c) improving the physical environment of Nigeria; and (d) promoting the mental and spiritual de-colonisation of Africa and the Black World’ (Ibid, 31).

2.1.2 Objectives of NYSC

The objectives of the National Youth Service Corps Scheme are clearly spelt out in Decree No. 51 of 16th June 1993 as follows:

(1) Inculcating discipline in Nigerian youths by instilling in them a tradition of industry at work, and of patriotic and loyal service to Nigeria in any situation they may find themselves.

(2) Raising the moral tone of the Nigerian youths by creating avenues for them to learn about higher ideals of national achievement, social and cultural improvement.

(3) Developing in the Nigerian youths the attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable training. This will make them more amenable to mobilization in the national interest.

(4) Enabling Nigerian youths develop the spirit of self-reliance by encouraging them to develop skills for self-employment.

(5) Contributing to the accelerated growth of the national economy.

(6) Developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration.

(7) To remove prejudices, eliminate ignorance and confirm at first hand the many similarities among Nigerians of all ethnic groups.

(8) To develop a sense of corporate existence and common destiny of the people of Nigeria.

(9) In order to achieve the objectives in subsection (3) of the establishing decree, the service corps shall:

(a) Ensure the equitable distribution of members of the service corps and the effective utilization of their skills in area of national needs.

(b) Ensure that youths are assigned to jobs in states other than their states of origin.

(c) Safeguard that such group of youths assigned to work together represents our national spread.

(d) Provide that the Nigerian youths are exposed to the cultures and tradition the people in different parts of Nigeria.

(e) Encourage Nigerian youths to eschew religious intolerance by accommodating religious differences.

(f) Encourage corps members to seek at the end of their one year national service, career employment all over Nigeria, thus promoting the free movement of labour.

(g) Ensure that employers are induced partly through their experience with members of the service corps to employ more readily and on a permanent basis, qualified Nigerians, irrespective of their States of origin (Babalola, 2011).

2.1.3 NYSC Vision Statement

To develop a sound and result oriented organization that is strongly committed to its set objectives particularly those of national unity and even development. An organization that is well motivated and capable of bringing out the best qualities in our youths and imparting in them the right attitude and values for nation-building. An organization that serves as a catalyst to national development, and a source of pride and fulfillment to its participating graduate youths.

2.1.4 National Integration

National integration is mainly the process of bringing thevarious peoples ofdifferent cultural and social background together in a given socialcontext or polityfor their collectiveinterests and good.The classic definitionof national integrationaccording to Weiner(1967) states that“national integration refers specifically to the problem creatingsense of territorialnationality which overshadows– or eliminates – subordinateparochial loyalties”. Infurtherance, Weiner andLaparambola (1969), aver that“national integration primarilyinvolves the amalgamationof

disparate social, economic, religious, ethnic and geographic elements into a single nationstate”. Again, Hogan (2006), postulates that “national integration involves the uniting of formerly separategroups into onegroup with theobliteration of anyprevious social and cultural group differences as well as the obliteration of separategroup identifications”. In anutshell, national integrationimplies both thecapacity of agovernment to control the territory under its jurisdictionas well asa set ofpopular attitudes towardsthe nation generally describedas loyalty, allegiance,and intelligence to placenational above localand parochial concerns (Abia, 2006).

2.1.5 Challenges of National Integration in Nigeria

The followingare some of the majorchallenges undermining theactualization of effective national integration in Nigeria:

1. Absence of Rule of Law One of the major challenge confronting national integration inNigeria is thelack of ruleof law which isevident in governments' lack ofrespect for theconstitution, the actions ofsome powerful andwealthy individuals who feel that they are above the law andthe increasing casesof extra- judicial killings; violations of

fundamental human rights and many other issuesthat are clearlyundermining the proper adherence tothe rule oflaw. As anascent democracy, Nigerianeeds its citizens and governments to conform to the ruleof law ifit hopes tostrengthen its constitution,institutions and nationalintegration. Onosode (2013)observes that “therampant incidence of flouting of the constitution andthe instrument ofrule of lawportends danger tobuilding the Nigeriannation in the21st century”.

2. Poverty/Deprivation This is asocial problem thatis devastating agreater majority ofthe Nigerian population.It appears thateach day that passes, Nigeriansbecome poorer and more deprived. The state of thenation’s economy isso worrisome thatit is contributingto individual(s) frustrationand submission to all sortsof vices andcrimes as away of survivalor as away to letout desperation andhopelessness. Johnson (2016) opinesthat “poverty is the masterminder of

all sorts of problems and destabilizes individuals andorganizations to the

level thatonly its reductionor elimination canbring relief andhope”. The povertylevels in thecountry leave Nigerians hungrier andless interested in seeking or workingtowards building effectivenational integration and unity.

3. Insecurity The issuesof terrorism occasionedby Boko Harambombings and attacks,kidnappings,herdsmen/farmers clashes, increasingarmed robbery andbanditry as wellas rising levelsof religious intoleranceand hate- motivated speechesand actions portrayNigeria as afield of steadybloodshed and conflictsand probably one of themost disunited anddisorganized nations ofthe world. The panic state ofthe nation is a reflection of the state of mind of its citizensand their fearfor the futureof the nation.Insecurity stands asone obstacle confrontingthe building ofstrong national integration that can help the country toforge ahead withsignificant developmental strides (Udeh, Okoroafor & Ihezie, 2013).

4. Inequality and Uneven Development Theexistence of gender inequality and other levels of socialinequality in Nigeriahas not helpedthe state of national integration in the country.The marginalization ofgirls and women at various levels of society continues tocontribute to a more divisive and disgruntled population.The increasing inequalityand uneven development onlyhelp to increase agitations, conflictsand national distrust.The nepotistic mannerof employment, sitingof national projectsand general atmosphere breedinter-tribal suspicion,

disharmony andantagonism which collectivelyundermine efforts towardsnational integration (Obialor, 2016).

5. Illiteracy/Ignorance The poor knowledgeand understanding capacityof many Nigeriansand the intentional and rogue perception and

actions ofsome of our leadershave all posedas setback tonational

integration. Theissues of fallingstandards of education,immorality and indisciplinewhich are easilyconnected to thesyndrome of mass

illiteracy and ignorance are rising to the detrimentof the unityand

oneness ofNigerians. Ogunlami (2013)submits that “thenecessary and fundamentalingredient for fast- tracking nationalunity and

togetherness inNigeria is theprovision of goodand functioning education for its citizens”. The level towhich education canempower understanding, toleranceand value consensusamong Nigerians aswell as facilitatenational development cannever be imagined norover- emphasized (Okoroafor et al, 2016).

6. Corruption: The issue of corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of the Nigeriansociety to the extent thatit is fastbecoming an integralpart of ourmainstream culture. Itpervades our life so completely today that one maybe justified incalling it conditionpar excellence ofcontemporary Nigeria, Udenwa (2012).

7. Poor Leadership/Governance: The quality of leadership and governance in Nigeria leaves much to be desired or appreciateddue largely tothe insensitivity andgross mismanagement of the nation’sresources in thepast decades. Achebe(2001) states that“the trouble withNigeria is simplyand squarely afailure of leadership. TheNigerian problem isthe unwillingness orinability of itsleaders to rise to the responsibility ofthe personal examplewhich are thehallmark of trueleadership”. Good leadershipis said tobeget good followershipand therefore thepoor leadership andgovernance in thecountry is breedinga weak, docileand unpatriotic citizenswho are aggrieved with the state of the nation andseem to bemotivated towards disintegration of the nation to satisfy ethnicsentiments and otherprimordial interests.

8. Ethnicism/Nepotism: To say thatmany Nigerians aretribalistic and nepotisticmay be aclear understatement of the situation in the country. Alot of Nigeriansare ethnocentric intheir perception ofissues concerning the integrity of thenation as a united democratic entity.Their behavior exhibitsthe ethnic/tribal inclinationsand antecedents thatonly aggravate thepoor state ofsolidarity and unityamong the nation’smany ethnic groups,creating social tensionand disorder. Theattitude of nepotismwhich further fuelsdisunity has not helpedNigeria’s efforts towardsnation building andnational integration. Okoroaforet al (2016)posit that “thisstatus quo isobviously anti-national unitybecause it breedsnational discord, disunityand fear thatundermine national integration”.

2.1.6 Challenges of NYSC Programme in Nigeria

The scheme is faced with a handful of challenges and problems emanating from diverse sources. These challenges include:

Insecurity: The continued existence of NYSC scheme has been called to question in recent years due mainly to insecurity and volatility in some parts of the country. With the declaration of April 16 presidential election result in favour of the sitting President Jonathan, violent crisis erupted in Northern Nigeria and rubbed off on Christians and serving corps members. About 11 corps members were killed and several Christians too. Properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in gale of violence that pervaded Northern Nigeria. With 11 persons officially confirmed dead in Bauchi, analysts believe that the actual figure could not have been less than 25 with the same number of casualty or more in other states such as Kaduna, Kano, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Benue, Gombe, Sokoto, Plateau, Niger, Katsina among others (This Day Editorial, July 9, 2012). However, the government deliberately kept mute on the actual number of youth corps members killed in the violence across Northern states. The Bauchi State police commissioner said the victims met their untimely death when an unspecified number of female corps members were also raped, and assaulted by irate youths in parts of the state.

Boko Haram insurgency in the North and militancy, kidnappings ravaging the south have posed serious security threat to the programme. Drawing from the experiences of some of the respondents, the fear of insecurity was cited as one of the challenges faced during their service year. This also accounted for a number of corps members who sought redeployments during their service years.

General Discontent by Parents and Corps Members: It is noteworthy that the NYSC scheme, established after the civil war to promote national integration, seems to enjoy popular supports from Nigerians for removing prejudices, eliminating ignorance and confirming at first hand the many similarities among Nigerians of all ethnic groups. However, to argue that the scheme is now seriously challenged is to put the situation rather mildly. The first major blow came during the post-election violence in April 2011 when 11 corps members were killed in Bauchi State. Prior to the election, several other corps members employed as ad hoc staff by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also killed in Suleja, Niger State, as well as in Jos, Plateau State (This Day Editorial, July 9, 2012). This ugly state of affairs has led to a situation where parents, for the safety of their children do everything to see that they are not posted to volatile or crisis prone areas. This was followed by a media campaign mounted by parents and several stakeholders against posting corps members to states that were prone to serious security threats. Consequently, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Directorate in 2012 redeployed prospective corps members previously posted to “volatile states” in the North. By the directive, corps members, who were earlier posted to Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Kano and Kaduna States were directed to report to the NYSC headquarters in Abuja for redeployment. Though this was greeted with mixed reactions, those posted to Yobe and Borno States carried out their orientation exercise at the NYSC camps in Nasarawa and Benue States respectively.

Sequel to the Boko Haram insurgency and the after-math of the 2011 post-presidential election crisis that claimed the lives of some NYSC corps members, parents are against posting their children to the affected states. However, most of these young graduates usually look forward to getting their call-up to serve in any part of the country.

Inadequate Facilities/Rejection of Corps Members: The population explosion experienced generally in the country has rubbed off on the NYSC. With the rise in Nigeria’s population, the number of graduates per year grew so rapidly that a single state now has up to 2,000 corps members to cater for. Considering the limited resources within the NYSC and lackadaisical attitude of state governments to the scheme, the corps members are inadequately cared for and poorly accommodated. How do we explain a situation where 40 corps members are quartered in a single hostel room with food items that can barely feed 10? The increase in corps population has contributed to the rejection of corps members by employers of labour and increased under-utilization of some in their places of primary assignment. This situation has been compounded by the worsening economic climate, which has shrunk salaried job vacancies by way of embargo on recruitment of new staff or rationalization of the existing work force. In some establishments, corps members are assigned to tasks far below their training and qualifications, and in extreme cases, owing to lack of trust by their employers, some are well utilized. The consequence is that many corps members become idle and do not acquire the experience which the service year is supposed to afford them. Consequently, the scheme is unable to achieve substantially one of its key objectives of accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.

Cases of rejection of corps members were another factor listed by ex-corps members that impede the successful achievement of the noble objectives of the NYSC programme. Some of them stated that they were rejected because the organisations lack accommodation where they can put the corps members and are also not willing to provide the needs of the corps members. Therefore, the best option to them is to reject the corps members.

Inadequate Man-power: Another major problem facing the NYSC scheme is inadequate manpower and materials to supervise and monitor members of the service corps. The responsibility of monitoring and evaluating corps members’ performances is vested in the Corps Inspectorate Department at the National Directorate Headquarters and the state offices. State offices, after posting the corps participants to their places of primary assignments, are to ensure that corps members actually report at their duty posts, to their various tasks and that the tasks are executed to the satisfaction of both their employers and the NYSC authorities. But unfortunately, the rapid growth of the scheme has not been matched with the commensurate staff strength to monitor corps members and evaluate their performances in the field. Most of the state offices are grossly understaffed and the result is that this vital aspect of the operation of the scheme has suffered a serious setback. In addition, there is acute shortage of vehicles for schedule officers to carry out routine inspection of corps participants, many of whom are serving in remote rural areas.

Inadequate Funding: Quite expectedly here has been inadequate funding of the scheme (Daily Times, May 9, 2016). The problem of inadequate funding has also impacted very adversely on community development projects (CDs). Some projects conceived by corps members could not secure financiers and in some cases others that were started have had to be abandoned when the money to complete them was not forthcoming. This has led over the years to declining interest by both corps members and sponsors in community development projects, thus making it difficult for the service corps to attain its objective of rapid development of the country particularly the rural areas.

Cross Cultural and Religious Differences: Ethnicity and religion are two issues that have played prominent roles in public governance in Nigeria. Religion dominates the roots of the cultural areas of Nigeria and to a greater extent accounts for the incessant crises that bedeviled the country in both past and present. Little or no distinction existed between the profane and the sacred dimensions of life. Thus, all activities and instruments of governance and survival were clothed in religious ritual, language and symbolism (Kalu, 1989). Enwerem (1995) corroborates this point when he suggests that over and above the factors of environment, political organisation and outlook of traditional Nigeria, the religious factor remains the major source of inspiration in the catalyst for the people’s activities and world view. Experts have also argued that the political behaviour of some Nigerians is still influenced heavily by the hyperbolic assumption that one’s destiny is intrinsically and exclusively linked with one’s ethnic, linguistic and religious identities (Dlakwa, 1997). The ethnic and religious composition of Nigeria and its manipulation by the political elite has posed serious challenges to governance and security in Nigeria. This has been aggravated by the failure of the State to perform its core duties of maintaining law and order, justice and providing social services to the people. For instance, the failure of the State has led to the emergence of ethnic militias in several parts of the country such as the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and Bakasi Boys (Igbuzor, n.d.).

Despite the cultural and religious differences, corps members in the course of their service have come to appreciate their host communities so much that most of them wished they had married from their host communities.

Environmental Challenges: While the current fear or risk associated with the NYSC scheme is largely driven by the violence being unleashed by Boko Haram on a section of the country, the authorities of the scheme should be blamed for certain aspects of the ongoing controversy. It is recalled that the NYSC had last year (2017) come up with a policy not to post corps members to “volatile states” with weighted indicators to categorise states into red, yellow and green zones. The indicators used were incidents of bomb explosions and targeted attacks on corps members, etc. It therefore beggar’s belief that the authorities of the scheme would insist on posting members to already identified volatile areas when the notion of NYSC is contingent on national peace and stability.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Social Communications-TransactionalTheory

Deutschdevelopmentonhispreviousworksemployingthetheoryof communication and control in the study of nationalism and social mobilization, focused upon transactions and other forms of social communication in his analysis of the integration of political communities. The underlying hypothesis of this theory is that cohesiveness among individualsofagroupandamongcommunitiescanbemeasuredbyand promotedbytheextentofmutualrelationshiporinteractionamongthem.In otherwords,thegreaterthetransactionalexchangesbetweenmembersofa group,thegreaterthecohesivenessofthegroup.

2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Chioma Onwere (2005) in her research examined the effectiveness of the National Youth Service Corps programme in Nigeria in relation to its major objective which is to help bring about national integration. Specifically, it attempted to find out the attitudes of a sample of graduate youths from the Hausa and Yoruba ethnic groups towards the Igbos and the country, and to assess whether participation in the National Youth Service Corps programme produces a change in their attitudes and promote national integration. The major hypothesis for the study - those who have served in the National Youth Service Corps programme will have a more positive attitude towards national integration as measured by the National Identity Scale, than those who have not served in the scheme - is supported. The favourable change in attitude however is moderate (P <.01). The results indicate that the respondents' job satisfaction, as typified by the significance of the jobs assigned to them, rather than participation per se is a better predictor of national integration in the present study. Quasi-experimental design was adopted. Evidence of the corps members' attitudes towards the Igbos and the country before their participation in the one year national programme serves as a baseline for measuring change.

Four major scales were used. The National Identity Scale in the form of Likert-type attitude scale; Marriage Choice Scale - a modified Bogardus' Social Distance Scale. Socio-metric-type questions form the Friendship Choice Scale. Osgood's semantic differential scales of 'a typical Igbo' make up the fourth attitude scale. 460 randomly selected respondents form the sample. 260 are the experimental group, while 200 are the control group. Questionnaire and interview methods are used to collect data from the experimental group before and after their service in Imo state. Only the questionnaire was used to collect data from the control group. For data analysis, Factor analysis, t-test, (and One-way Analysis of Variance, where

appropriate) and Step-wise Multiple Regression analysis are employed. The mean difference between the experimental and control group is examined in terms of participation and non-participation in the NYSC programme. Comparisons are also made between the entire sample as categorised by such biological/demographic factors as sex, ethnic origin and religion of respondents. For the experimental group only, the possible effect of such factors as frequency of contact with their host community – the Igbos, job satisfaction in their place of assignment, language acquisition (Igbo) and

location of their assignments in terms of urban/rural environment are also examined at the end of their service year. This was done in order to determine the most effective factor/s within the context of the National Youth Service Corps programme that help reduce prejudice, and therefore increase national integration.

In a research carried out by Aremu (2018) on National Youth Service Corps Programme and the Quest for National Integration Adopted the descriptive analytical method, the paper identified insecurity, general discontent among parents, inadequate facilities, poor funding, and rejection of corps members among others as challenges confronting the programme and recommended improved funding of the programme, greater and sincere fight against insecurity, ethical re-orientation and religious tolerance as panacea to the challenges being faced by NYSC.