NYSC Scheme and the Genocide in Northern Nigeria

The April 16th presidential elections took place all over the country and within 48 hours as promised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the result were announced by the chairman of the commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, the pronouncement of the incumbent president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as obviously our votes reflect was no surprise for citizens like me who do not undermine the strength of the winner considering peoples interest in him as he has always been rated best candidate amongst the four top contenders by opinion polls from time to time.


In as much as some see the re-election of Dr Goodlcuk Jonathan as a way forward for Nigeria some miscreants took it as still another opportunity to foment trouble and destroy lives and properties of defenceless Nigerians. From press report, thousands of lives and properties has
been destroyed in states like Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Borno and Kwara states.


In as much as the violence cannot be distanced from the terrorist groups known as Boko-haram it is very obvious that the violence has been incited/masterminded by political opponents of the president-elect and his party the PDP, this was evident by the fact that houses belonging to the top PDP party chieftains were destroyed by these hoodlums.


Enough is enough, I salute the courage of the president and Chief security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for responding to this ugly trend with the required attention and have so far succeeded in aborting it through the use of joint task force who came to the rescue of the defenceless citizens being murdered per-second in these states.


This article above all things was triggered when the news came about sporadic killings of members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who only were posted to the north to fulfil their call to national duty. A brother to a colleague serving his country in Bauchi called to inform that he was in a police station where he and other seven youth coppers ran into for protection apparently when being chased by mobs in Gyadi Local Government Area in Bauchi. When called back by a sister to find out about his current situation, someone else received the call just to say with all satisfaction that "we have killed your brother" in clean - clear English with a northern accent and this was later confirmed. How long will this continue ?.


Based on the foregoing, mothers from the south have made SOS call to the Federal Government to scrap the NYSC scheme instead of constantly having their children killed in the North in the name of the scheme while their northern counterparts who serve here in the south enjoy maximum peace and security without fear of molestation.


I challenge the National Assembly to revisit the ACT which set up the NYSC scheme with a view to bringing lasting solution to this ugly trend of constant massacre and genocide going on in the north from time to time, this ugly trend is unacceptable and in the nearest future it will begin to receive stiff resistance by we southern youths who continue to loose our brothers lives because of their engagement in the NYSC scheme.


Coming from the perspective of a learned youth who have gone through this scheme in Kogi state of Nigeria, having noted that my service year was not absolutely peaceful, it is good to note quoting from the NYSC website that there are two major purposes of setting up the scheme thus: "The purpose of the scheme is primarily to (1) inculcate in Nigerian Youths the spirit of selfless service to the community, and (2)to emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background.


If these are the objectives therefore, scraping the NYSC as our mothers suggest will have defeated the duo purpose of the scheme which are all vital to national development, but in my own opinion I call on NYSC to post all corps members to their geo-political zone as this will not amount to total abortion of the objectives of the scheme but will defeat only one of the two majors objectives. I can categorically state that the purpose which will be defeated in this case is not worth the lives of thousands of NYSC members who have lost their lives in ethnic and religious crisis so far.


I call on the great Nigerian students through the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) to oppose this ugly trend and make a resounding statement concerning the future of their products whose lives are threatened by these genocide perpetrated/incited by cruel individuals who take their personal interest above human life, who choose to kill and destroy at the slightest provocation/incitation. But let them remember the injunction that "he who kills in order to live shall have death await him as sentinel at the door of his life and he who destroy in order to succed shall have destruction await him at the door of his success". I urge you to call for all intending corpers to be posted to their geographical zone.


All over the world this constant act of violence have been condemned by Nigerians home and in Diaspora and the world at large, some are calling for placing ban on such race/ethnic composition who always engage in these killings a writer opined "Enough is enough. Joining world ...human rights groups will give it international perspective and if possible place a travel ban on these people and their families. All men are equal before God. Therefore any man who takes it upon himself to destroy another or fails to act in order to stop the mindless killing of others must be made to answer here on earth in accordance with the law and afterwards before God. So go people. I am not rich but if push comes to shove I will contribute and help to raise requisite litigation funds. I enjoin everyone to pledge support in anyway possible. Lawyers should assist with preparation of briefs on voluntary basis, citizens should volunteer as witnesses if they know anything about events leading up to the gruesome killings, others can organise fundraising and be in court to give moral support. Please let’s do whatever you can as a mark of respect for our fallen heroes".


Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Long live the Nigerian Corps Members, Corpers WEE!! WAA!! AJUWAYA!!
May the souls of all corps members killed during the post election violence the Northern Nigeria rest in perfect peace.

Using the Scamper Technique For Problem Solving

The SCAMPER technique uses a set of directed questions which you answer about your probortunity in order to come up with new ideas. The stimulus comes from forcing yourself to answer questions which you would not normally pose. The questions direct you to thinking about a probortunity in ways which typically come up with new ideas.

SCAMPER is an acronym which stands for questions relating to the following:

S	Substitute	Think about substituting part of your product/process for something else. By looking for something to substitute you can often come up with new ideas.
		Typical questions: What can I substitute to make an improvement? What if I swap this for that and see what happens? How can I substitute the place, time, materials or people?
C	Combine	Think about combining two or more parts of your probortunity to achieve a different product/process or to enhance synergy.
		Typical questions: What materials, features, processes, people, products or components can I combine? Where can I build synergy?
A	Adapt	Think about which parts of the product/process could be adapted to remove the probortunity or think how you could change the nature of the product/process.
		Typical questions: What part of the product could I change? And in exchange for what? What if I were to change the characteristics of a component?
M	Modify/distort	Think about changing part or all of the current situation, or to distort it in an unusual way. By forcing yourself to come up with new ways of working, you are often prompted into an alternative product/process.
		Typical questions: What happens if I warp or exaggerate a feature or component? What will happen if I modify the process in some way?
P	Put to other purposes	Think of how you might be able to put your current solution/ product/process to other purposes, or think of what you could reuse from somewhere else in order to solve your own probortunity. You might think of another way of solving your own probortunity or finding another market for your product.
		Typical questions: What other market could I use this product in? Who or what else might be able to use it?
E	Eliminate	Think of what might happen if you eliminated various parts of the product/process/probortunity and consider what you might do in that situation. This often leads you to consider different ways of tackling the probortunity.
		Typical questions: What would happen if I removed a component or part of it? How else would I achieve the solution without the normal way of doing it?
R		Think of what you would do if part of your probortunity/product/process worked in reverse or done in a different order. What would you do if you had to do it in reverse? You can use this to see your probortunity from different angles and come up with new ideas.
		Typical questions: What if I did it the other way round? What if I reverse the order it is done or the way it is used? How would I achieve the opposite effect?

In essence you should ask yourself questions relating to each of the SCAMPER words to come up with new ideas. Spend some time developing questions which challenge your current way of thinking.

Brainstorming Toolbox software can be used to spark off suitable questions or you can generate your own manually.

NB. It is acknowledged that not all of the questions will fit in with every scenario, but you will need to extract the meaning of each question and develop your own which is directly relevant to your situation. It is the principle behind the question that you should apply to your own probortunity, not just the immediate question asked.

Please try this technique for yourself and you will certainly improve at coming up with new ideas.

April 2nd 2011 Elections, Another Call For Uncertainty

It was around 2pm when I was on the queue at No.27 Gerald road Ikoyi, having painstakingly gone through accreditation, then a black jeep drove in to the polling unit and echoed from behind a tinted glass window of the vehicle that was wound down "election has been cancelled", in the normal fashion of astonishment electorates at the unit moved towards the jeep to make further enquiries when the man reiterated his pronouncement and further explained that the elections has been postponed to Monday 4th April based on shortage in supply of electoral materials to some locations.

To me, that was the height of disappointment from a highly revered body like INEC whom to an average Nigerian is an independent body as the name suggests, as we went off the polling booth, concerned citizens who were alongside with me started analyzing the event; while some saw it as a failure and incompetence on the side of INEC others suggested that, they are working under instructions, some said they have an ulterior motive behind the cancellation, but one of my friend actually gave kudos to Prof Jega for taking such a bold step to cancel the election as it shows that the commission does not want to engage herself in conducting an incredible election.

But to me there is no better way to explain this than to say that it is a display of laisser-faire attitude in handling the nations resources, which have been displayed in the attitude most of our Governmental parastatals by spending more resources than required in accomplishing any task given by the Government hence it is our "Government money" we always believe that since the Government is not our personal business, she cannot suffer loss or run bankrupt, this attitude is what have crippled many Government industries in the past, this is why we spent at least 50 times more money to achieve the electronic voters registration process that did other countries like India and South Africa, when shall this stop?.

Some concerned citizens lamented that Prof. Jega was supposed to have inspected all electoral materials at least 24 hours before the elections as any business man would do to make sure he delivers purchased consignment to clients within contract time, others were of the opinion that it is very obvious that the commission cannot conduct a credible election on Monday April 4th 2011, owing to the fact that some reasonable part of the electoral materials have been exhausted in the Saturday elections "we will begin to experience ink, ballot papers, result sheets and other materials shortage", as I also witnessed people made categorical statements that no electronic voting materials were seen at the polling units.

From all indications a friend in a nutshell said that, INEC have failed Nigerians, Dr Chris Ngige said that what happened was an abortion of process since it was done when the election has started, stating it would have been in the best character of the commission to disseminate this information earlier before elections, I challenge the head of Logistic in INEC to consider himself as a failure and see the need to upgrade his professional competence to meet up with cutting edge ideologies.

Nigerians blessed with enormous human capital and natural resources should as a matter of urgency engage in proper utilization of these our God given potentials, I call on all Nigerians and INEC in particular to handle all responsibilities with all sense of dedication, responsibility and high level of integrity in a bid to create a landmark in their service to the nation. All Ad-hoc staff must ensure that they preserve their integrity in order to preserve this hard earned democracy.

Long live Citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!,

Long Live Independent National Electoral Commission!!,

Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria

Michael Nwaolisa

HND, CCNA, MDNKI, MNIM.

Writing from Lagos.