After the initial apprehension that trailed the recent decision of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) to slash the number of graduates to be mobilised for the scheme by over 70 percent, the leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), led by Comrade Aruna Kadiri, has successfully put a smile on the faces of Nigerian students.
An agreement to fully mobilise graduates was reached when the leadership of NANS paid a visit to the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure, in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Kadiri, who addressed a press conference in Abuja, after the visitation, "We all came out smiling after the meeting we held with the Director General of the NYSC. This is because the DG has categorically stated that President Buhari has ordered that all qualified graduates should be mobilised and none should be left out."
He added that "for this reason, I assure Nigerian students that all tertiary institutions will also make sure that all their students would go for the service. Everyone would be captured and mobilized."
Kadiri further urged the National Assembly, Federal Government and the Director General of the NYSC to put a stop to the downward slash of NYSC budgetary allocation.
Kadiri admitted that "what is happening now is as a result of slash in the budgetary allocation which must not persist. As the year goes by, there will be more students, both local and international, that would be mobilised for the programme. So, if there is a slash in the budget of NYSC and they want to give us quota, definitely there would not be financial resources to mobilise all the students due for mobilisation."
He added that the downward slash could result to a disaster not only to Nigerian students but also to Nigerian economy, because if graduates are accumulated, it will get to a point whereby many students will not go for the programme, even after five years of graduation
