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| Olufemi Mimiko, VC | , | . |
The management of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko in Ondo State, yesterday expressed displeasure over the one-year national youth service posting of some of its students to northern states which it said were ‘violence prone’.
The Ondo State-owned institution, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Sola Imoru, said it is still traumatised by the death of one of its alumni, Kehinde Jehleel Adeniji, who was killed during the violence that trailed the April 16 presidential election in Bauchi State
Mr Imoru said a situation where some of the students were still posted to these states without sufficient guarantee for their safety by the authority of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), in defiance of the University and other Nigerians’ calls for a bold review of the scheme, is unacceptable.
“In a nation where some youths in some parts of the country gather to fight the nation in the name of Boko Haram, posting educated youths to these states amounts to leading them to the slaughter slab,” the university said. “Less than 24 hours after Adekunle Ajasin University handed over call-up letters to its graduates for mobilisation into the compulsory national youth service, it was inundated and continues to be inundated with calls, visits and e-mails by parents and guardians, protesting the posting of their children and wards to states labelled as flash points of violence in the country.”
The university official said the Adekunle Ajasin University identifies with the fears and anxiety of recent graduates and their parents.
Address the cause of violence
The institution also said it is of the view that no responsible government should allow students to be posted to states where they will be exposed to danger, adding that, “the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says the security and welfare of the people shall be the main purpose of government.”
It, therefore, requested that its graduates posted to northern states where there was violence should be deployed to other states in order to assuage the anxiety of their parents. “While the University believes in the principles underlying the establishment of the NYSC, it is of the opinion that, in the interim, graduating students should serve in their geopolitical zones until the Federal Government is able to effectively address the huge security challenges presently besetting the country,” Mr Imoru said in the statement.
The statement also called for a review of the posting decisions. “The Federal Government should therefore immediately put necessary measures in place to enlighten the Boko Haram sect, get them to toe the line of decency and guarantee the security of the people before returning the NYSC to its status quo.”
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