Skip to main content

Activists condemn NYSC call-up letters fee

The National Youth Service Corps has been criticised for its online call-up letter, which requires prospective corps members to pay N4,000 to download a copy.
According to the President of Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, charging a fee to download call-up letters is like defrauding Nigerian graduates.
The NYSC management had earlier defended the fee, saying the online portal was designed to safeguard the lives of intending corps members and to eliminate forgery.
Defending the payment, the Director of Corps Mobilisation in NYSC, Mr. Anthony Ani, had said, “Before orientation, every prospective corps member has to pass through a long process, including travelling to collect call-up letters. Sometimes many corps members have died while travelling to get their call-up letters, and most times, school officials may not be there.
“Coming to camp, you meet long queues during registration, while others bring fake call-up letters. Some prospective corps members change their dates of birth because they want to serve and get discharge certificates. Some institutions are admitting students without passing through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and enfolding them into unaccredited courses.”
However, Okei-Odumakin described the step taken by the NYSC as exploitative.
She said, “I believe this is another avenue of exploiting the already pauperised Nigerian youths, who are daily being subjected to all forms of exploitation without recourse to the prevailing economic reality in our society.”
Similarly, a lawyer and social commentator, Olufunke Oluwole, though commending the NYSC’s initiative, said the fee should have been less.
Oluwole said, “No, Nigerian should not be cheated again by a parastatal coming up with get-rich-quick schemes for enriching the pockets of a few. The proposed payment is unacceptable and we should, with one voice, raise a standard against this kind of behaviour rearing its ugly head again.
“I am appalled at the news that the NYSC intends to charge a fee for downloads of call-up letters. It is indeed reminiscent of the Nigeria Immigration Scheme employment saga that resulted in loss of innocent young lives, a few months ago.”
The legal practitioner added that the NYSC directive to prospective corps members “is an obvious failure of the system to understand that its processes and manner of application are a function of its performance and such a burden should not be passed to the beneficiary at any point in time.”

Source: Punch

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The War between Iconic Emeka Ike and Segun Arinze

The war between iconic actors Segun Arinze and Emeka Ike seems to have no end in sight. In a recent interview, Arinze had said Ike should stop embarrassing the Actors Guild of Nigeria by parading himself as its president. According to Segun: ‘Emeka should grow up. As far as I am concerned, Ibinabo Fiberesima is the bonafide president. Even in the recent judgement that came out recently telling us to return to the status quo, what does it mean? We were told to go back to the way we were. There was no time Emeka Ike was pronounced the president of AGN. Let him bring out the copy of the judgement and show us if he is man enough. He should wake up and stop embarrassing the guild.” Well, these words did not go down well with Ike who believes Segun Arinze “is an illiterate who should have been in jail.” He told Saturday Beats: “I heard Segun Arinze was interviewed and he said so many things about me and nobody asked me for my own side. I don’t think it was a balanced report. Se...

Jonathan, Abiara ask Nigerians to pray for 2015 polls

                                       President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday felicitated with Nigerian Muslims as they commemorate the birth of Prophet MuMuhammad. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President urged Muslims to use the opportunity offered by the Eid-el-Maulud to offer special prayers for successful and peaceful elections in the country next month. Also, the General Evangelist, Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide, Prophet Samuel Abiara, has appealed to politicians to embrace peace and avoid any act that could lead to violence ahead of the 2015 general elections. The clergy, who spoke in Lagos during the crossover service, decried insecurity and economic decline as a result of falling oil prices. He said, “We are deeply concerned over the continuous killing of the innocent people of Nigeria. The land is becoming...

400-YEAR Old Church Emerge From Receding Water

No biggie, but a Colonial-era church has emerged from receding waters in Mexico. Leonel Mendoza fishes every day in a reservoir surrounded by forest and mountains in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas. But in recent days, he has been ferrying curious passengers out to see the remains of a colonial-era church that has emerged from the receding waters. Pretty impressive, right? A drought this year means the level of the Grijalva River, which flows into the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir, has dropped by 25 meters (82 feet). It is the second time a drop in the reservoir has revealed the church since it was flooded when the dam was completed in 1966. In 2002, the water was so low visitors could walk inside the church. ‘The people celebrated. They came to eat, to hang out, to do business. I sold them fried fish. They did processions around the church,’ Mendoza recalled. The church near Quechula was built by a group of monks headed by Friar Bartolome de l...