… Says National Assembly Members Don’t Pay Stipends
The Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed concern that federal government offices especially in the nation’s capital have become very notorious for frequently rejecting members of the National Youth Service Corps scheme posted to them as places of the corpers’ primary assignment for one calendar year.
HURIWA has appealed to the President to take extraordinary measures to ensure that government offices do not continue to reject corpers or treat them badly as slave labourers.
The right group in statement signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmnauel Onwubiko decried the wrong practice by members of the National Assembly who mostly reject corpers but when they do accept corpers posted to them by the NYSC, the members of the legislature made up of Senators and members of the federal House of Representatives refuse to pay stipends even as little as N10, 000 per month per each corper sent to them even when some of these corpers are overused and overburdened with office tasks as if to say they are employees earning monthly salaries.
HURIWA observed that some of these corpers are deployed by the law makers to handle complex tasks in those offices which the corpers mostly discharge excellently but unfortunately the members do not pay stipends to corpers from the intelligence we gathered from speaking to the corpers attached to the National Assembly.
HURIWA lamented that the evil and anti-Nigerian practices of rejecting youth corp members by the federal ministries and agencies of the Nigerian government including the National Assembly whose members sit on the stipends of these youth corpers even when they assign them to carry out assignments for the offices of the law makers is dehumanising, primitive, despicable and go against the fundamental principles for which the institution of the National Youth Service Corps scheme was set up in the early seventies by the military junta headed then by General Yakubu Gowon. HURIWA wondered that whereas each of these legislators pockets hundreds of millions of Naira allowances yearly, yet youngsters sent to work for them and with them for a year are marginalised and deprived of any sort of pecuniary benefits to cushion the effects of the spiralling costs of living crisis and high inflation.
“AS far back as October, 2016, the Presidency addressed the issue of
FREQUENT REJECTION OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS (NYSC)
MEMBERS POSTED TO GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHMENTS in which the then secretary to the government of the Federation Engineer Babachir David Lawal warned government offices not to reject corpers but to accept them, integrated them into the system and expose them to the experiences inherent in the jobs of civil or public service of the Federation.
HURIWA noted that the SGF had then written thus: “Further to our Circular Ref. No. SGF.15/T/90 dated 13’^^ November, 2008
on the above subject. Government’s attention has been drawn to the growing
incidence of rejection of National Youth Corps (NYSC) members posted to
Government establishments. To put an end to this undesirable development, it
has become necessary to reiterate that the directive that Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) should not reject Youth Corpers posted to
them for their primary assignment is still in force. This is imperative in order to
maintain the laudable objective of the scheme which include the involvement of
Nigerian graduates of specific age category in national development and
integration.
- Accordingly, all MDAs are directed not to reject Youth Corpers posted to
them and should ensure that the Youth Corpers are actively engaged during
their primary assignments. The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports through
the National Youth Service Corps will monitor compliance with this directive
and report to Government periodically.
- Please ensure strict compliance with the content of this Circular”.
HURIWA however noted that just as the government offices under the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration failed to comply with the directives made by the SGF on the orders of the President, government offices and agencies of the Nigerian government even today have remained notorious saboteurs of the spirit behind the NYSC by frequently rejecting corpers just as the National Assembly even under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio do not pay the stipends to corpers posted to them.
The Rights group said it is inundated by complaints by corpers posted to the National Assembly that they do not get paid any stipends just as complaints of sexual harassment are rife suggesting that members of the National Assembly constantly harass corpers for sexual gratification even as the Rights group asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission should discreetly investigate these groundswell of allegations of sexual harassment faced by female corpers posted to members of the lower and upper legislative chambers in Abuja.
HURIWA said investigation by it shows that it is not true that corpers posted to Government establishments demand for rejection letters but the fact is that the federal ministries and government agencies use these corpers for slave labour if they do accept them but the fact is that 80% of corpers posted to Government establishments aren’t accepted.
The truth is that the National Assembly don’t pay corpers any stipends just as HURIWA is appealing to the National Assembly Service commission and the hierarchy of the National Assembly made up of the Senate President and the Speaker to review this despicable practice of not paying corpers any form of stipends even as we urge the committee on public petitions to suo moto investigate allegations of sexual harassment of not just corpers but female staff posted to the legislators including married women.
