LIFE AFTER NYSC

                                                         

   It’s a week to pop. ‘’Finally! Service is over and done with. Now, just have to focus on getting a good paying job and soar high’’. ‘’ Wow! Service would soon be over and, I haven’t yet gotten a job…. Anyways, no worries, am heading into the favour market I know the lord is on my side.’’ ‘’Thank God service is finally over… now, I can go back home; I've really missed home’’.

    These and many more are the thoughts of would be ex-corps members. A wise man, (my father) once told me ; life is not a straight line graph, you have to make plans for your life but, leave room in case the plans needs to be altered or adjusted. Thus, the future is so uncertain. The future by the way is not a faraway time as we all sometimes erroneously portray it to be. The future is the next second. The next second is so unpredictable that, you never can predict with 100% accuracy about what would happen next. Does this however mean that we should live the seconds, minutes, hours etc. as it comes, without any prediction and possible plans for the future? If we can’t predict the future with 100% accuracy and thus plan for it, we can at least predict it with 70%, 80%, 90% or even 99.9% accuracy. Thus, we should have 2 plans or at least one plan for our future.

      More often than not, some soon to be post NYSC corps members have no concrete plan in place as to what happens after NYSC. It’s easy to forget to think of the future when you are enjoying the present. A great many plan to search for jobs after the NYSC (forgetting that over five thousand people can apply for one job opening in a firm in Nigeria).  Often times, after  staying jobless for about six month (by then, the saved allawee would have completely exhausted, if spent miserly ), depression and reduced feelings of self-worth sets in. now, I didn’t write this article to  dissuade you from searching for legal jobs in Nigeria after NYSC. Rather, to present an alternate method.

1.      In the midst of the fun of NYSC, take out time to equip yourself with skills that you could fall back on if your hopes of white collar jobs get shattered.

2.      Think of your life. There’s no better time to do so than during the NYSC. This is because once you are through with the NYSC, if you are new to taking responsibilities of yourself and people around you; you’d be amazed as to how great your responsibilities are.

3.      If after your thoughts, you have concluded that it’s a job you need, start applying for jobs immediately you leave the orientation camp or during the orientation camp (for those who did not apply while in school).

4.      Finally, never forget your hobbies. You never can tell the heights they can lead you to.                             

                          Cheers and good luck on your job hunt. 

                    

                                                                                                                            Chikezie Monalisa.

THE AMNESTY SAGA

Prior to the oil boom in 1956, Nigeria practiced an agrarian economic system. For instance, there was large-scale exportation of cash crops like palm produce (oil and kernel), groundnuts, cocoa, rubber, etc. However, with the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Oloibiri, Ogbia L.G.A in Bayelsa State, on 15^th January, 1956 by Shell Darcy, Nigeria semi-abandoned the agricultural sector. There was an upsurge of oil drilling and exportation in the country.

As a result of the oil exploration across the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, the agricultural fields and waters got polluted -- thus, making the Niger Delta area a predominantly poor place, coupled with the diminished involvement of fish farming due to the adverse effect of the water pollution. To make matters worse, although the Nigerian economy depended heavily on oil, the government didn’t deem it fit to compensate those affected adversely by oil exploration and pollution.

Thus, the Niger Deltan youths took the laws into their hands and caused constant chaos in the nation. The struggle scared oil investors and also affected the economy. The militancy of the Niger Deltans then came to a halt with the granting of amnesty by the President; the late President Umar Musa Yar’adua. This program helped the unemployed to learn skills and gain monthly salary. Thus, militancy gave them employment and a sense of being and as compensation for the exploitation of their water resources which adversely affected their primary means of livelihood; Fishing.

 The success of the amnesty program has thus led the movement of Boko Haram -- a terrorist group in Nigeria -- to demand for amnesty.

The Boko Haram is an Islamic terrorist group founded by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf in 2002 in Maiduguri. The term Boko is a Hausa word which loosely translates to “animist” (making reference to Western, or non-Islamic, education), while Haram is an Arabic word which means “sin” or “forbidden”. Thus, Boko Haram is a religious-based terrorist group that strives to eradicate all forms of Western education and replace it with Islamic education and Sharia law.

The Boko Haram operated semi-peacefully until its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed. It had its first terrorist attack in Borno in 2011. Since then, there has been a series of attacks nationwide. This has led to the loss of thousands of lives and properties. The Boko Haram terrorist group has facelessly demanded for amnesty.

 Amnesty according to the Oxford dictionary refers to official pardon given to persons who have committed political crimes. The crime committed by the Niger Deltans for which amnesty was granted is justifiable. However, the demand for amnesty by a religious terrorist group is absurd and would be insanity if they are granted.