 Igrffent o'r cyfnod ymwneud ni, mae'r Cyfrwyng newlyd��au sydd wedi bod yn ein cyfrwyng nygoedd yng Nghyb丈 latawd. Felly, roedd cyfrwyng newydd yng Nghyrch gyffredinol yng Nghyrch ynpas o'r cyfrwyng nygoedd llain. Felly, rydyn ni angen i bryddio cyfrwyng nygoedd yn Nygiriad, ond, ynghylch y 1973, cyfrwyng ymwneud a'r ddechrau o gyfrwyng newydd yn teimlo ynghylch ar gyfer y Llywodraeth o'i rwyng nifer. Yn hyn yng Ngosodd Llanfaidd, a ysgolwyr, NYSE fyddwn ni'n cael ei gwerth o'r negatif iawn ar Nigeria. Yn hyn, y cyfnod y ffrwng ymdyn nhw ymdyn nhw'n cael unig ac ymdyn nhw ymdyn nhw'n cael ei gwerth o'r glidwyr yn gyfrannu Niguriau i Niguriau, ac yn ymdyn nhw'n cael ei gwertho'r lleidwyr a llwyddoedd. On the negative side, the NYSE has been criticised for being outdated and no longer serving its purpose. It has been criticised for being poorly funded and for not providing adequate safety and security for its participants. Tonight we're talking about youth service and the state of insecurity in Nigeria and we're asking, is NYSE still relevant? Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation, send us an SMS or WhatsApp 0818 038 4663. NYSE. So I already know that NJ served in Abuja. Where did you serve? Ibadan. You served in Ibadan. Okay, so I served in Lagos, so I think we have a good cross-section. We're only missing the east, right? We have a good cross-section. So I want to start out first before we move to insecurity. I want to touch on what your NYSE experiences were like. We just talked about what the positives are, what the negatives are. What the real reason for it was in the first place, which is the nation building. So I'd just like to hear very quickly what your experiences were and what your thoughts were based on your experience. Was it a worthwhile experience for you or could you have missed it? If I'm to be honest, I would say I could have missed it. There was nothing special about it. It just felt like we were at some boot camp, you know, and some people just wanted to have fun with rich poor anybody that was wearing that uniform. It was just an opportunity for some people to even get out of their house. Was that your first time in Abuja when you served? No. So you had some experience with the town already? Yes, yes. But you can never... NYSE in Abuja is at... It's like the deeper part of it. It's inside the bush. So you had that with the orientation camp? Yes, it has nothing to do with like town. So you're out two weeks. I think at my experience, I had a horrible experience on I think the last day or the last major activity we had. But you have to take this long walk around the town, up a mountain, down a mountain. And we were wearing those khakis. Those khakis were horrible. The fabric was... Do you know, at the end of the walk, I did the walk, but I couldn't walk again. Why? My thighs, the khakis had script my skin so badly that they couldn't touch each other again for a while. You know, you have to lie down with your legs. We just wore it to dry up. It was like the fabric... It wasn't meant for that activity. We were having showers outside because the bathroom was an eyesore. And it felt like being back in body clouds. And I didn't even just want to be close to that place. We had people, some of us had to buy pure water and fill up in buckets just to take a clean shower. Because you were not sure what you were showering with when you were not sure of the source of the water. It was called, you know, it was, come on. I felt like I was back in, like I was back in JSS1. So that was your, for all intents and purposes, that was your orientation camp experience? Yes. What about the rest of the year? Well, for the rest of the year I ended, I got posted to the telecoms company. And I think I had a wonderful experience there because it was an organization that had like a very future driven kind of outlook and strategy to their business. So I was, I found myself in procurement. I had a lovely boss who didn't see me as a youth couple but as a procurement officer. So I was given tasks and very quickly I was, you know, I was given tasks. It's just that there's a limit to what they can give you because you're an NYC staff. So there's a limit to the information, but I had a great experience working with them. For some of them, I still, you know, keep in touch with some of them over the years and just after some time. So it was a great experience and it really opened me up to, you know, that whole work life getting me ready for the world. Are you still in touch with any of your, maybe people you met during the NYC experience? Yes, some of them are actually some of my best friends right now because we have stories to tell. Alair, let's come to you. My NYC experience was pretty interesting and just story was basically making me remember. But I want to talk about the treatment, like how the soldiers treat cupers. The early morning waking up, they might pour water on you to wake you up, wake you up with whistles. Then in case you oversleep and they don't come to wake you up, they won't bother. They will just come on anybody's outside and then if you're caught on the bed, you're not going to nail down where people had their bath. So when Angie said people have their bath outside, then your punishment is that you'll go and nail down on top of that. Inside the soapy water. But for me, my question is why that treatment? Why do you have to be wicked to people? I know a lot of people that fainted during the standing on that this on and in the rain. Which is part of the anti-magusta thing called, during NYC, I didn't enjoy it per se. This is camp now. In camp, yes. I did not enjoy it at all because for me it was just an unnecessary time. Like there's mosquitos everywhere, you're not eating well, you have to go and queue to eat some food. And then you know the rich people's children, the governor's children, the politicians' children, of course we see what happened and there's nothing we can do about this. We'll just observe and maybe be their friends from a distance. Mommy markets, everybody going to have friends. I mean it was a good experience for some people but I didn't enjoy it. Living NYC camp, I was posted to a school, a secondary school that I had to teach. And I only enjoyed being able to make impact on those kids because I saw what they were going through as children. I think my best experience as a girl, Lola Day, we still talk today because she was a child in one of the classes that I taught. But most of those people, their educational life is not really so great. So for me it felt good to be in that setting to experience that thing with those kids and help them grow and help them get better. However, like you said, it's underfunded because with everything, including the NYC organisation, including secondary schools, when you see how everything is, you're just wondering what's the essence of all of this. I finished, I ran back to Lagos because I didn't want to have the NYC. So I think I'm the complete antithesis to both of you because the things you said about camp were true. The camp was horrid. I said to Lagos but the camp was still not nice and the bathrooms were still questionable but we could still use them inside and if you had to wake up really early, so as soon as they cleaned up, you'd make a beeline and take it out beforehand. I think I had a really negative impression. I think I've talked about it many times on the show. I had a negative impression when I was coming because I had also heard some horror stories. And I literally went in and I was like, okay, I'm stuck here for two weeks. I'm going to try and make the best of it and I had a blast actually. I carried colour, I marched, I carried that, I carried the flag, I played volleyball, I tried drama for a little bit but then it was clashing with carrying the flag and that was more important to me. I was more fun. And then I got posted for it enough to allow some Ministry of Information and trust me, I was not finding it funny. The first day I got there, it was A. But in the end, I think I still made the best of it and I had a fantastic time. I'm still in touch with my boss as well. So all of these things, I think the question for me in wanting to hear what your experiences were like is the first part of it that says is NYC still worth it. One of the things that I took away from that camp was meeting so many people from all over Nigeria. That for me, my camp was very well blended with people from all over Nigeria. So it was interesting to meet all these sorts of different people. You know, you just assumed that everybody you meet, I mean, I grew up in Lagos so you assumed that everybody you meet has that similar experience. So meeting people from all over was really quite, for me, quite interesting. So from a value perspective in terms of nation building, people that I have spoken to, I was even still talking about one yesterday and she served in Kaduna and she was talking about how she misses it because, you know, food was growing everywhere, the North, she didn't want to come back. The concept and the context itself of what NYC is, I think the thing that it was meant for is needed even more today than ever before because we are so divided, right? And if we can get this right, the concept of you and I being able to see each other in that context outside of, I think you are able, I think you are able, I think you are also all of these stories that we know are going around today, you know, the different tribal issues and things like that, I think that that NYC process is still needed today. It doesn't take away from the fact that the security is a problem. It doesn't take away from the fact that it's underfunded. We can say the same thing for education but nobody is asking us to scrap education, right? If you take on one hand the number of kids that have been kidnapped from schools and you take on the other hand the number of co-members that have been kidnapped on the roads, the schools are way down here, right? So that's the perspective that I come from in saying that yes, there are challenges, right? But that particular thing of giving people the opportunity to be around people who are different and grown up in different parts of the country, I think it's still really, really valid. So the idea now coming to hear your thoughts around the insecurity part of it and before we even come to, I guess, insecurity for NYC and this clip that has been circulating again on social media today, that whole process of insecurity versus travelling on the roads, why do we think the risk, because for me, when I saw this, I was like, is the risk any higher for co-members than anybody else on the road? No, it's not up to you. Because I mean co-members are not working. So like they said, you have to alert your friends or your family members to come and play around some. But it's the same thing as anybody else, to be honest. Because most of these co-members, I mean, most people are just regular kids that are just finishers. So and their parents are not so, you know, I mean, it's really crazy to see this kind of thing. Like I was really surprised when I saw that, what do I call it, disclaimer. I know, we'll come back for it. I'm surprised. I know. Of course. On the road to Zidzaria, which one is very, very, very far from Ligos. They took like four days. And some of them were sleeping at the bus park. And we know how dangerous these things could be. So this is something that has been happening for a long time, like years, right? But now, with the promenade there, like kidnapping is not very prominent. And everybody is at risk. So with us, they are just saying, maybe it's the lawyer that advice them that will put it there so that it doesn't look as if you guys are not safe. Yeah, I totally agree with that, Allera. Yeah, I think it's not any higher. It doesn't change their victims as much as the next person, a walking class. And you would even wonder why they'll take an NNYSE. Maybe because they know that, okay, parents definitely depend to do anything to get their kids back. But when it's an older person, it will be considered differently. But is the thought behind putting it out there that really... So now, let's come to that. So I like the fact that you mentioned that too. I said earlier that this clip is not actually new. So it showed up on social media first time, I think about two years ago in 2021. So this is like, you know how things just sort of research on social media. So it's not new. And when it came out back then, the NYSE actually came out to rebut it. So the first thing I think they said was, oh, there are many versions of their manual or their pamphlet around, right? So that was the first thing. And then they then had their press person who now came back and said, oh, it's been brought to our attention that this is circulating. And then they did a full disclaimer to say this was not us, that, yes, we have a manual that's been done by a retired security expert, but this part is miscreants who are trying to take advantage. I mean, forget the fact that there were so many screenshots lying around on social media, but let's even give them the benefit of the doubt, right? But in that document, it clearly was saying, if you are travelling on, don't travel at night. If you're travelling on these roads, then make sure somebody is ready to pay the ransom. And then when I started to look, so in the last Chibok happened in 2014, right? So between 2014 and now, about, from what I can sort of see, there's less than 100 core members that have been kidnapped in that time, some released and various things. I think even the most recent one I saw was, I think it was in August, where they said that two that were kidnapped somewhere around Kogi were released. And in fact, the person who was speaking to it was speaking to Copers at Orientation Camp and said, you know, these people have just been released. And then the focus consistently is on don't travel at night. So you keep, the burden keeps coming back onto the core members, which is why I asked the question earlier about, why is the risk? Because if we're all travelling at night, and most of the time, these guys are on their way to Orientation Camp, because in my mind, I try to process these things logically. So in a bus today I announce, if you're a core member, or I know that I see core members on the road maybe during their city days, when they are at their uniform. So when you're on your way to Orientation Camp, you don't even have your uniform yet. So when they say core members, in my mind I'm like, is this how the story sells because I just say, is it everybody in the vehicle that is being kidnapped or not? But the focus, even with whether this is genuine or not, the focus kept on saying, you know, you need to protect yourself, take responsibility. You don't travel at night. And the question for me is, why are these people travelling at night? Is it cheaper? Is it, you're saying, travel from approved bus parks? Again, is it cheaper? What is the real root cause of this thing? Are you putting round pegs in square holes, which means I've told you not to come and go to Zamfara, but I don't care how you can afford to get to Zamfara. What I was even going to say is that the time and distance, it takes on people four days, which includes nights. So is it that when the day is getting dark, everybody will not go and stay in a hotel and maybe rest somewhere? Exactly. And it's not like there are bus parks or bus stations that are safe enough for people to actually sleep in. We have bus companies that have different states that they have offices. So if I told you, so maybe when it's 6pm, it's getting dark, the bus park office at that state would have an apartment or a hotel or wherever that people can stay and continue to trip the next morning. Then I also remember that back in the day when a luxurious bus was raining then, if you have to travel from Lagos to Onitsha, it's easier for you to go at night so that by morning you've gotten to your destination and you're able to go to business and by go to the market on your way back, you come back at night. So that's how it has always been, but now with the whole insecurity issue. But my point is the journey from wherever they are to the NYC orientation card takes longer than 12 hours. So if you're giving the disclaimer that... So I will be on the road somewhere at night. You're not giving me an option. So what do I do? You're not even so... because you know I have to... it's a compulsory task for every Nigerian. But are you even creating an opportunity for it to be safe for us because you're putting it in my own hands and I know they won't have the control. And these are people who are not even any... They have children. Absolutely. They're not earning money. We don't know the financial capacity of their parents. I mean, there's so many ways to take it. And the reason why I say that is because when you come back to the insecurity side of it, it's unsafe for everybody right now. Everybody that is travelling on the roads, it is a risk that you take. If you tell yourself right now that you're going to drive even from Lagos to Ybadol, it is a risk that you're taking. So no matter what it is, even within the city, within this Lagos here environment, there's all sorts of risk issues that insecurity is causing. So when we now come back and we say because everything they've said so far is protect yourself, protect yourself. Now if I move away from co-members and just come to kidnapping in general, in the last six months, I've had some kidnapping cases pretty close to me and the feedback for all those cases were the same. The authorities themselves are saying nothing else to do, let's figure out how we're going to pay. And even the people who started us, it's not led us. Well, if you get on time, figure out how to pay. And the truth of it is this didn't even matter if some of the cases were pretty, people who had access to people that were pretty high up, right? And the feedback was still the same. There's no we're going in there, we're going to figure it out, the security forces. These security forces themselves have now accepted, that's what it appears to be, that we've accepted that kidnapping in Nigeria is now we're going concerned. So just pay, if you love your loved ones, pay and get them back. And we've seen that happen time and time again with the students who have been kidnapped from various educational institutions. The parents all come together and pay. So because for me it's like let's distill the problems. Kidnapping and insecurity is a problem on this side. The poor administration of the NYSE program is another problem. The NYSE program itself for me is not the problem. The objective is not the problem, right? But what are we calling as where we're going for for these kids that we're now sending out into the world. I think we should take a quick break and then when we come back we'll continue the conversation. Please stay with us.