The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has clarified the circumstances surrounding the infiltration of an undercover reporter into its program, shedding light on the reporter’s ability to mobilize twice for the one-year service.
In an interview on a Channels Television program, the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Eddy Megwa, disclosed that the reporter, initially rejected by the system for having previously served in the NYSC, manipulated the system by changing his email address and phone number.
According to Megwa, these alterations enabled the reporter to be accepted into the program again and receive an initial posting to Osun State.
Megwa explained, “It is not that we don’t have checks and balances in place to detect possible breaches of the system. When the undercover reporter first put in his data, the system rejected him because he had served in the scheme before. He later changed his email address and his phone number which made the system to accept him. And he was initially posted to Osun State.
“He did that because he was out for a particular purpose. We are looking at the situation and ensure that it does not happen again. We don’t have a database of graduates to serve in the scheme. We only rely on the lists sent to us by the Senates of the various universities, stating the number of graduates to expect from them,” he said.
Though Megwa said the use of the National Identification Number, NIN, was incorporated into the scheme three years ago, he was unable to explain why the differences in the reporter’s biodata in NIN and what the reporter put in for his second mobilisation were not enough to raise a flag for the scheme to detect him.
Asked what step the scheme takes to ascertain whether people with foreign certificates are qualified to take part in the scheme, Megwa said, ” It is not our duty to assess their certificates, but we have resorted to inviting foreign students and giving them test to know their abilities.
” In the course of doing that, we have made startling discoveries. Ask some of them to write a simple essay, you will be surprised at what you get. I have some of such materials that I can show you. NYSC is an elite scheme, not for illiterates and the means of communication is English Language. In 2006, the then DG of NYSC, Brig.- Gen. Yusuf Momoh, went to an orientation camp and asked a supposed corps member the title of his final project, the answer he gave was incredulous and further investigation revealed that his name was smuggled into the list of graduates from a particular university.”
Furthermore, Megwa said that the scheme was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Education, Foreign Affairs Ministry and other agencies to track people going for foreign studies and when they come back with their certificates.
Following the incident, the Federal Government recently imposed a ban on certificates from some foreign universities following an expose revealing the ease of obtaining a degree within six weeks in Benin Republic.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, announced the establishment of a committee to assess the accreditation process of foreign universities and their certificates.
