OAU ife students reject NYSC POSTING to BORNO and some part of north ‘Why we don’t want to serve in Borno State’’t want to serve in Borno State’

As the authorities of the
National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC) release the
postings of graduate
students for the 2011
Batch "B" service
nationwide, some
students who are posted
to Borno State for the one
year compulsory service
have rejected their
deployment to the state.
While expressing their
willingness to partake in
the service, they, however,
called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to
prevail on the Director-
General of the scheme to
effect a change in their
posting to any other state
than Borno.
This group of students
numbering about 25 from
Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, and
many of whom hail from
Osun State made their
intention known last
Friday after they had gone
to the Division of Students’
Affairs office to check their
postings.
The rejection of their
posting to Borno State is
made against the
backdrop of the troubling
state of insecurity that the
state is thrown into as a
result of the heinous
activities of the dreaded
Boko Haram, a religious
sect whose name in Hausa
language means "Western
education is sin".
Since its debut in June
2009, the sect which
claimed responsibility for
a number of attacks in the
North-eastern axis of the
country including the
recent bomb blast at the
Nigeria Police Force
headquarters in Abuja, has
reportedly killed over
1,000 people.
Speaking with The Nation,
the spokesperson of the
group, Obaji Okereke, said
that the posting was a
rude shock to all of them.
According to him, "We saw
our posting two days ago.
And it is Borno State. The
truth is that all of us are
very surprised by this.
Many of us, as I gathered,
did not bother to seek to
influence their posting
because they thought
nobody would be posted
to the North, and that
even if they would post at
all it won’t be the extreme
North where there is
continuous restiveness.
Borno is one of these
states. The truth is that
those of us posted there
are not ready to go, not
even for the three weeks
orientation because we
never can say what the
Boko Haram people will
do. The Boko Haram
people have made it clear
that they don’t want
Western education and
this is what we represent.
Three weeks in Borno is
not safe. And that is what
we are saying.
"We are not saying we
will not serve. What we
are saying is that we want
to have our orientation in
a different state. It can still
be in the North. We don’t
mind doing it in Kano,
Kaduna or any other place
in the North apart from
Borno, Yobe, or any of
those volatile places. After
all, some of our colleagues
posted to Lagos and Abuja
will not have their
orientation in those
places. The same can be
done for us; they should
allow us to do our
orientation in a different
state and after which they
can then send us to other
places. We are not going
to Borno State but we
want to serve."
Noting that many of them
considered the posting as
a death warrant, the
graduate of Electrical
Engineering said that
some of them had even
refused to collect their
posting letters. He also
informed that their
parents had expressed
their willingness to bar
them from going to the
state.
He said, "The tension in
Borno State is high. The
state is not secure. We are
not happy about the
posting. Our parents too
are not happy about it.
Already they have told
some of us to forget about
the service and just return
home. Our decision is that
if our requested is not
granted, we will all stay
back with our parents."
It would be recalled that
after the killing of nine
serving corps members in
Bauchi State in April
shortly after the
announcement of the
presidential election
results by the
Independent National
Electoral Commission
(INEC), many parents had
said that they would not
allow their children to
serve in the North. This
came amidst further calls
for the scrapping of the
scheme.
Another member of the
group who spoke with our
correspondent revealed
that they had visited the
office of the governor of
Osun State to seek his
intervention in the matter
since majority of them are
indigenes of the state.
Adesakin Motunrayo, a
graduate of English
Studies, said that it was
the Chief of Staff to the
governor, Mr Adegboyega
Oyetola that attended to
them. According to her,
the COS told them to make
their reservation known to
the Directorate of the
NYSC, noting that there
was nothing the state
could do about the
posting since the scheme
is a Federal Government
affair. She said, "The COS
told us to raise the matter
with the NYSC. We
wouldn’t have had
problem about going to
Borno State, but the
consistent onslaught of
the Boko Haram group is
discouraging. Many of us
have been worried since
we saw our posting. No
one needs pretend that
Borno is peaceful and safe.
If the indigenes
themselves are living in
great fear, how will
strangers cope in such a
place? Assuring us that
many soldiers have been
drafted there will not
solve anything. We just
appeal to the Federal
Government to do
something urgently about
this case. We would
appreciate it if we can do
this serve elsewhere".
When contacted, Oyetola
confirmed the students’
visitation, adding on a
personal note that "they
have a right to complain
about their posting. They
are right to say that they
are not going to serve in
Borno State. We are all
aware that the state is
battling with the Boko
Haram sect. The reports of
the sect’s activities are
enough to give anybody
fear. I think something
should be done about the
posting of these students".
In his address to reporters
last Thursday, the
Director-General of NYSC,
Brigadier-General
Maharazu Tsiga,
announced that anyone
posted to Bauchi State but
prefers to serve elsewhere
would be redeployed. He
noted that security
condition in the state
informed the decision. But
he didn’t say whether
those posted to Borno
State can as well seek
redeployment owing to
the security threat in the
state. He, however, said
that "corps members must
take their personal
security seriously, do not
hesitate to inform the
security agencies about
any suspicious movement
during the orientation."
According to the NYSC
timetable, all the
mobilised students are
expected to report to their
various camps on Tuesday.