Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Students threaten mass action over NYSC mobilisation

National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ekiti State axis, has threatened mass action following an allegation that only 508 out of eligible 4,335 graduates of two higher institutions in the state were mobilised for the compulsory national service.

NANS, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Monday and signed by chairman, Ekiti Axis, Damilare Bewaji,  faulted what it said was the national mobilisation quota of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for Batch A of  the 2013/14 service year.

The students said the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti and Ekiti State University (EKSU) were allegedly short changed in the mobilisation by the NYSC, saying only 202 graduates of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti were mobilised out of the 835 that were compiled  by the institution for mobilisation.

According to the statement, the worst scenario was recorded in EKSU, where it said “only 306 were mobilised for the same youth service out of about 3,500 eligible students that  were supposed to be mobilised.”

The students issued a seven-day ultimatum to NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General, Nnamdi  Okorie-Affia, to  ensure that all prospective corps members in the state were fully mobilised, saying they would mobilise the students for a protest at the NYSC office in Ado Ekiti.

NANS described the action of the NYSC as “highest  level of criminal injustice capable of ruining our members’ future unless  steps are taken to  ensure that the right thing is done  in this matter.”

The Ekiti State NYSC  Director, Mr Tunde Baba-Ahmed , who responded to the allegation via telephone, said the issue of posting and mobilisation of prospective corps members  is done  at the  National headquarters in Abuja.

He urged the students to take their case directly to Abuja for prompt action, clarifying that the NYSC  has nothing to gain in shortchanging any institution in mobilization for the compulsory one-year service .
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