By Godwin Onuh Odeh
It may be recalled that Brigadier General Mohammad Fadah who took over from the iconic Shuaibu Ibrahim, on the 18th of May, 2022 was sacked on the 16th of November 2022 on the ground of gross incompetence. Consequently, Mrs. Christy Uba, the most senior director was appointed as acting Director General of the Scheme till the appointment and assumption of office by Brigadier General Yeshua Ahmed on 30th January, 2023.
One of the major lines of argument at the time of what may be called NYSC Leadership crisis was the need to prioritize those that has served at the capacity of Military Assistants to previous Director-General, which the former DG, Ibrahim Shuaibu was one of. The argument appeared to have gained currency due to the excellent performance of Major General Shauibu Ibrahim as an erstwhile Military Assistant. Mrs. Christy Uba, the acting Director-General appeared to have subscribed to this view saying: “it is gratifying to note that you are in familiar terrain having served as Military Assistant to a former Director-General of the Scheme. I am confident that the experience gained in your previous assignment here, and the cordial relationship already established with members of staff, will facilitate your success as you steer the affairs of this noble organization”.
Apart from the need to converting NYSC to a kind of parade ground for former Military Assistants, it will produced “Creative, Patriotic and Productive Leadership” always advocated for. In short, unlike the exited Fadah, Brigadier General Ahmed Yeshua, was very lucid in his mission statement and states thus: “improving security, welfare of Corps member and staff to engender optimal service delivery to the nation; providing enabling environment for research and development for the advancement of the Scheme”, among other things were his mandates. So striking is the priority he gives to “research and development”, which underscores his up to breaking new ground, which he termed “greater height”.
It may be further recalled that the appointment of Director-General and the structure of the Scheme is well captured in section 5 paragraph “i, ii and iii” of the NYSC ACT 2004 CAP 84, which states that:
i. There shall be a for the Service Corps, a Director-General who shall be appointed by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces;
ii. The Director- General shall be the Chief Executive and shall be charged with the general responsibility for the matters affecting the day-to-day running of the service corps, and
iii. The Director-General shall be assisted by Directors at the National Directorate Headquarters and State Coordinators at the State Headquarters.
In short, the Director General is a member of the Governing Board of the Directorate, which is made up of the following order:
a. a Chairman;
b. one representative of the of the committee of vice chancellors
c. one representative of the committee of Rectors of Polytechnics
d. one representative of the Chief Army Staff
e. one representative of the Inspector General of Police
f. one representative of the Nigerian Employer Consultative Association
g. three other persons , one of whom shall be a woman and
h. the Director General.
From all indication, the scheme is well structured. While a lot of politics come to play in the appointment of Director –General it remained the prerogative of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. It was against such dirty politics which has the potential of producing half-baked and incompetent Director-General as recently seen in the Scheme that the writer once argued that: “former Military Assistants to past Director-General who are at the rank for such appointment should be giving more attention and consideration.” This against the backdrop of the case of Brigadier General Fadah who in view of several NYSC staff does not know the inner workings of the Scheme and who was not even ready to learn.
Another interesting gist or episode in the historical development of the Scheme is that of having a civilian head at acting capacity. The stint Mrs. Christy Uba had would be would fondly remembered in civil-military and gender leadership story of NYSC. From the chronicle of NYSC national leadership only Reverend Okrunamade (2000-2000) and Police Commissioner Ewokan (2001-2001) and Mrs. Uba were the only ones from nonmilitary milieu, while the latter remained the only female head since the inception of the Scheme in 1973. This therefore, shows voices for demilitarizing and democratizing the appointment of NYSC Director- General to deepening civil-military relation is gradually gaining ground.
By the way of conclusion, ample lessons are already there for the new Director-General to learn. “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of History is the most important of all lessons that history has to teache” as Aldous Huxley would have one believe. It is already documented that NYSC after Shuaibu Ibrahim would only accept and tolerate competencies, particularly creative and patriotic military officer and no longer a business as usual, giving the high leadership standard he set and left. This was what Fada fell short of and was summarily pronounced incompetent and removed without much opposing noise.
As a man in previous terrain, Brigadier General Ahmed Yeshua should be wary of sycophants who will come with varying stories to buy favour. Furthermore, welfare of corps members and staffs, research and development as he has stated should be vigorously pursued. With this, he will be able to build on Shuaibu’s legacies; take the Scheme to greater heights while keeping the vision of the “leading light of youth organization in Africa” and maintaining the status of the “best organized national youth service in the globe”.
Dr. Godwin Onuh Odeh,
Specialist in NYSC and Youth Studies,
Department of History, Sokoto State University, Sokoto.
