Nooooooooooooooo! The HORROR!

I just heard the news! Seriously, where have I been, what have I been doing, what is his name???

Wait for it...

Corpers are no longer allowed to serve in the private sector!

Apparently, the new policy is that all NYSC postings will henceforth be in Rural Health, Primary and Secondary Education, Rural Infrastructural Development, and Agricultural Development.

Click Here for the full story.

Can I just say 2 things in response?

1. Thank God I signed up with the last batch *whew*
2. I actually think it's not the worst idea in the world, although I have some objections. On one hand, the point is to get the Nigerian youths to have a hand in developing the country, which is fine by me. However, will the objective actually be enforced properly? In addition, under what conditions are corps members supposed to be serving? I personally think that if corpers are being sent to rural areas (in fact outside their state of residence), then NYSC should ensure accommodation for at least 3-6 months. A lot of corpers are not privileged to have family or friends in the states they've been sent to - and let's not even talk about the measly allowance we receive. Come to think of it though, NYSC allowance (N19,800 per month) is higher than minimum wage in Nigeria. This country can be depressing when you really sit to think about the number of people that are suffering. 

Back to the main point, I guess this means no more corpers will be sent to banks, law firms, oil companies and such. Wow. Wow. Wow! As always, I will not encourage anyone to skirt rules, regulations and requirements, but I want to see what the outcome for Batch A 2012 corpers will be... How many will actually carry out the teaching/farming/etc duties? If nothing else, there might be something to learn and NYSC could be grooming future commercial farming executives!

I wonder, can Nigerian soil be good for vineyards? I would totally love to make wine and pretend I'm in Italy!

*enough of the random thoughts* Anyways, due to my missing this very important news item, I have included a news feed on the bottom of this page. The news feed will specifically look for stories on NYSC. I'll discuss the ones that interest me in different posts.

Gotta get back to work!

Deuces,

Berry :)