Nysc is not about me

Everyone has one reason or the other for enlisting in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Some do it because they want to see what NYSC is all about. Some just to fulfill all righteousness. Someone else just for the fun of it. A lot more have little or no clue why they enlisted. But there’s only one reason for enlistment into the National service. That reason is Nigeria. Without Nigeria, there will be no need for NYSC and ofcourse no need for corps members. Nigeria needs you and that’s why you are enlisted today.

If one should take a sample of the thoughts of corps members, many of us are thinking “why should I spend 6 years in primary school, write common entrance, spend 6 years in secondary school, write the WAEC exam and of course the JAMB exam, spend another 4, 5, 6, 7 years in university, write tough exams and survive the hands of the sad lecturers and finally obtain a degree and come to waste it in a so called national service. Don’t I deserve to be out there earning some cool pay cheque? Why now after all I have gone through? Is this not another waste of time? Many of us call it so. But if our education does not benefit the society, then why are we educated in the first place?

We all as youths claim that we are the leaders of tomorrow. That is true and my belief is that NYSC is the first point of call for us to give expression to that leadership potential. As youths, we need to salvage that which is left of our fatherland despite the overwhelming challenges. NYSC, to me, proofs to be the effective instrument with which we can shape the future of this country. If we fold our hands as youths and watch, we will inherit chaos, poverty and war.

Nigeria is my country, your country and our country. If she belongs to us, we will build her up. Nigeria should not die because we are not in power. NYSC is our power, our power to change Nigeria. Our inability to change that which we see around us is an abuse of that power. If at the end of this service year, we cannot impact a student, a classroom, a school, an establishment or a small community, then we have no right to complain about those who have been unable to impact our nation.

There’s one mentality that is common to all of us. It is the mentality of me, myself and I. Nigeria is where she is today because of this mentality. From my experience, those who complain and murmur during service are always those that don’t see service year from the view point of serving others. No one ever desires to be posted to the village. Nobody wants to teach in a community secondary school. We all want to serve in the city, work where they pay the highest and where there’ll be no discomfort whatsoever.

I will like us to understand that selfishness only destroys a nation more. We need to die to self in this one year of mandatory service to our dear nation. NYSC is not about you but about Nigeria. Otherwise, you won’t be there in the first place. Albert Einstein rightly said that “Only a life that is lived for others is a life worthwhile” NYSC is about that SS1 student, it’s about that community, it’s about that establishment, it’s about that individual, it’s about others! Someone very well said that “It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe with one trifling exception is made up of others.” Don’t expect a better nation tomorrow when you are not ready to contribute your part today.

Bill Clinton in his inaugural speech in 1993 said and I quote “It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing, from our government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility not for our families and us but also for our communities and our country.” This clarion call is not a call to serve ourselves but a call to serve others. It is a call to look away from self and allow our gaze to be on others so that once again, together, we can have a Nigeria that we all can be proud citizens.

Long live NYSC! Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria! God bless you and God bless Nigeria.

Written by:Effiong Edentekhe...Author of NYSC:It's Not About MeAttachment 7563