By Bola Ogunlayi, Ibadan
Polytechnic graduates with Part Time National Diploma and Full time background in their hundreds have protested against not being mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps,(NYSC)Batch C as the Camp opened across all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory,Abuja,today.
The Lagos State Camp of NYSC, located at Iyana Ipaja,Lagos, was the epicenter of the demonstration with the aggrieved graduates displaying placards with different inscriptions
The protest disrupted the ongoing registration exercise of Batch C Corps members deployed to Lagos state for the service.
Registration of the latest NYSC new entrants, which commenced as early as 7 a.m., had to be stopped at 9 am. when the protesters suddenly appeared to stage their grievances.
Corps members who arrived after the protesters occupied the access gate were shut out with frustration boldly written on their faces.
A spokesman of the protester,Abeeb Ibrahim Oluwatoyin, who said he graduated from the Federal Polytechnic, Offa in 2022 from the,Electrical Electronics department,said that the NYSC,JAMB and NBTE are behind their problem
“We have been protesting for the past two years. The Minister of Education has issued an official statement that we are eligible to serve,but the NYSC has refused to honour the clearance,” he stated.
“Every time we go to register for Mobilization,it always shows exclusion letter.They are just denying us our rights to serve the nation,” Oluwatoyin alleged.
Another of their leader,Kaosarat Abidemi who graduated from the department of Microbiology,Yaba College of Technology in 2022,said the problem is that the NYSC is mixing up the issue of part time and full time,claiming that they are not part time.
Lamenting that they have been on the issue for over two years,she said the certificates they acquired from their respective tertiary institutions are now rendered incapable of securing jobs .
“Companies and job owners always asked for our NYSC certificates as condition precedent before employment.We are jobless at home and feel alienated by the system that is supposed to protect us,” she fumed.
A male official of the NYSC who addressed the protesters inside the locked gate said their protest would be forwarded to the appropriate quarter.
He urged them to be civil in their demands and that their requests are well noted.
Immediately after the protesters left, the NYSC gate registration of the new Corps members continued under a tight security.
