Justice for abused corps member in Kwara
The Kwara State Ministry of Education and the authorities of Government Day Junior Secondary School, Kulende, Ilorin, moved swiftly to address a case of severe assault of an unnamed National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member by a teacher in the school where she had just completed her service year.
The student was reportedly attacked by the teacher, Fatimoh Amuzat Nike, for “not greeting properly” when she went to pick her clearance letter. A trending photo of the bewildered corps member showed that her NYSC khaki uniform was torn by the enraged teacher. This action prompted the NYSC in Kwara State to quickly withdraw all corps members posted to the school.
A joint investigative panel by the Ministry of Education and Kwara State Teaching Service Commission found Nike guilty of multiple infractions, including insubordination, fighting on duty, use of foul language and disrespect for the NYSC uniform, a symbol our national unity. The Commissioner, Saadatu Modibbo Kawu, condemned the teacher’s misbehaviour, affirming it did not represent the character of the state and its people who are very hospitable to visitors.
We commend the school and the educational authorities for the action they took to show their zero tolerance for the teacher’s unacceptable conduct. Under a different set of circumstances, the school could easily have sided with the teacher. The state was able to effectively distance itself from the abuse of the NYSC scheme in their domain.
What about justice for the corps member? We call on the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to invite the assaulted corps member and officials of the Corps to a reception to enable her leave the state with fonder memories.
This assault represents another low that the scheme has fallen to in recent years. When General Yakubu Gowon founded the NYSC in May 1973, it was meant to serve as one of the policies to strengthen Nigeria’s unity after the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. The manpower level in the country was still far below the needs of a rapidly developing country.
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Youth corps members were treated almost as royalty in their places of assignment far from their states of origin. But, as the country grew and things started deteriorating on all fronts, the abuse of corps members increased, ranging from rejection at their places of primary assignment to being kidnapped by criminals for ransom. Safety concerns and maltreatment of corps members have lately led to calls for the suspension or outright scrapping of the scheme.
Nigerians ought to know that corps members are brought to them from areas that may not share the same cultural traits with them. One thing we share in common is hospitability towards strangers.
Hostility towards peaceful visitors or non-indigenes is uncivilised behaviour, and must be condemned.
