Too many Nigerian parents now live with constant anxiety. When their children receive posting letters to states known for violent attacks, kidnappings, or communal clashes, joy turns into fear.
THE CABLE:
Nigeria stands today at a painful intersection between hope and fear, progress and danger. The country’s insecurity has grown into a national nightmare that touches every family, every community, and every institution. Among its many consequences, one of the most alarming is the continued deployment of young Nigerian graduates, fresh, unarmed, and full of promise, into deeply unsafe parts of the country under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). It is time for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt this practice before more lives are needlessly lost immediately.
Too many Nigerian parents now live with constant anxiety. When their children receive posting letters to states known for violent attacks, kidnappings, or communal clashes, joy turns into fear. Conversations shift from “Congratulations” to “Please be careful.” Mothers stay awake at night, praying. Fathers continuously check their phones. Young graduates, instead of feeling excited about their service, carry a heavy burden of worry about what lies ahead. This emotional weight is not imagined; it is shaped by a decade of tragic events that have involved corps members in the worst forms of violence.
Over the years, Nigeria’s security situation has deteriorated into a troubling spread of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and communal strife. Regions that were once peaceful now witness daily attacks. Highways have become dangerous corridors controlled by armed criminals. Entire communities are displaced, and even military personnel often fall victim to these threats. If trained and armed security officers are struggling to stay alive, how can the nation justify sending its unarmed youths into the same danger zones?
The suffering experienced by corps members caught in these circumstances is heartbreaking. There are numerous cases of NYSC members kidnapped on their way to camp, their families forced to negotiate ransoms that wipe out life savings. Some corps members have been attacked in their lodges, robbed, assaulted, or traumatised by bandits who stormed at night. Others have died in fatal accidents while trying to avoid unsafe highways, leaving behind devastated families who had looked forward to celebrating their graduation. The most painful stories are those of corps members who never returned home, children whose faces will never again brighten their parents’ lives, whose dreams were cut short by a risk that could have been avoided.
These tragedies are not mere statistics; they are stories of real human beings with hopes, families, and futures. Each loss is a stain on the conscience of the nation.