Benin, Edo, Nigeria – By Oladipo Airenakho
As Nigeria prepares for the polls on March 28 and April 11, this year, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has advised Members of the National Youth Service Corps who will work as election ad-hoc staff to shun politicians’ advances to rig the elections.
Oshiomhole gave the advice on Wednesday at the opening of the NYSC Annual Management Conference in Benin City.
According to him, this is easily the toughest election Nigeria will have over the past 16 years and NYSC is providing the bulk of the presiding officers and polling unit officers at critical levels in the electioneering system.
“I want to appeal to Corpers that they must refuse to be compromised by very desperate politicians.”
“We have a political class who, if they have the opportunity, will even bribe God that they go to heaven even if they are actually candidates for hell and the Corpers will require God’s help to resist these desperate politicians for the votes to count and I think the Corpers must find sufficient encouragement to identify that the issues at stake is not the future of those seeking power but the future of those who are not seeking power particularly the younger ones.
“What is at stake is their future, their place on this continent and on this planet. Every day that is mismanaged is opportunity lost, therefore, regardless of the intentions of those seeking power, the Corpers must understand that their own future cannot be measured with N 5,000, N10,000 or N20,000.”
The Governor was however consoled by the fact that the Corpers have been playing this role with no evidence of a problem in the past.
“Even where elections were allegedly rigged or actually rigged, from the proceedings in the court, that rigging wasn’t done most of the time by Corpers and therefore the Corpers have been playing their roles as true Nigerians who believe in the unity of our country.”
As young men, he continued , they should be more idealistic which means they should see things done perfectly and with all the innovation that INEC promises to introduce including the Card Reader, adding that he expected that this elections will be freer than the previous ones.
He expressed his continued firm belief that the country is greater than anyone and that no government official would hold permanent positions, be it the Presidents, Governors or Local Government Chairmen.
“What is permanent is the institution of the Presidency, of the Governorship and of the Armed Forces. Once we distinguish between the person and the office, there should be no problem.”
“But my advice to everyone is that even under temptation, we should recognize that when nations fail, everybody is in trouble whether you are responsible for it or not, adding that “Nigeria is greater than anybody and I am a firm believer in the unity of this country and nobody should do anything to threaten our unity.”
Oshiomhole stressed the nation’s diversity as a factor that makes it a promising leader of the African continent and that such promise will be fulfilled in his own life time, saying that corpers will inherit a country where nobody cares about religious and ethnic disparity.
In a goodwill message, the Minister of Youth, represented by a Director in the Ministry, Alhaji Waziri Lamini said the conference should brainstorm and come out with fresh ideas to enhance performance of Corpers and keep them safe while the federal government will continue to play its part to ensure the scheme is well provided for.
Also, Chairman of the NYSC Governing Board, Chief Godwin Bozimo said Annual Management Meetings were crucial in the calendar of every establishment because they afford the organizations the opportunity to assemble for stock taking, re-evaluation of their strength and weaknesses and mapping out strategies to break new grounds.
In a welcome address, the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi said issues of insecurity, rejection of corps members in places of primary assignment, funding and inadequate infrastructure now pose critical challenge to the scheme.
