Some Nigerian youth corps members undergoing their national service at the Akwa State Orientation Camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have lamented poor feeding despite the Nigerian government’s increment of their feeding allowance.
The aggrieved corps members told SaharaReporters that the state coordinator and other officials allegedly forced bad meals on the corps members, necessitating most of them to spend their personal money buying food.
A source from the camp told SaharaReporters that the government had increased corps members’ feeding allowance from N650 per day to N1500, placing every meal on N500, but the quality and quantity of the food given to the corps members in Akwa Ibom “is not in any way up to N500.”
The source said, “It is important to note that the federal government had increased the feeding allowance for corps members in camp from N650 per day to N1,500 per day. Therefore every meal stands for N500.
“Despite that freedom of information (FOI) mandates organisations to make public information open, the NYSC Akwa Ibom Coordinator, Ekwe N. I. Chinyere, is hiding this vital information from corps members.
“They are afraid because the quality and quantity of the food is not in any way up to N500. Some of the foods are not above N150; that is beans porridge, pap/akamu, garri/beans etc.”
The source said that most corps members were prepared to buy food in the camp market, popularly known as Mammy Market because of low quality of the food in the camp kitchen.
According to the source, many corps members have exited the camp on the grounds of sickness, pregnancy or marriage, “but their feeding allowance goes straight to the pocket of the NYSC officials.”
SaharaReporters had on February 17 reported a related development where the NYSC management debunked reports that corps members were lamenting high food prices in camps.
Eddy Megwa, the NYSC Director, Press and Public Relations in a statement had asserted that it was unfortunate to allege that a State Coordinator addressed corps members, encouraging them to leave the orientation camp, because of food shortage.
He had emphasised that camp markets were highly regulated, so as to prevent exploitation of Corps Members by the operators, noting that the markets were not insulated from the vagaries of inclement economic weather which was of global dimension.
“For the avoidance of doubt and purposes of information, NYSC Orientation Camps are operated under a framework of checks and balances, built on so many layers.
“In each camp is a Resident Officer posted from the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters, Abuja, to assist the camp managements run a hitch-free Orientation Course. He is resident in the camp for all through the three-week duration of the programme.
“Part of their mandate is to ensure that camp managements comply strictly with the laid down policies and rules concerning feeding of Corps Members, among others.
“Officers of the Scheme of the directorate cadre also visit the camps on monitoring duties. They in turn play oversight functions on the Resident Officers and camp managements.
“It is pertinent to state that the ultimate authority in the day-to-day running of the Scheme, the Director General, Brig Gen YD Ahmed goes round the NYSC Orientation Camps nationwide with his team, each camping season, primarily to see to the welfare of Corps Members.
“It is imperative to emphasise that camp markets are highly regulated, so as to prevent exploitation of Corps Members by the operators. However, the markets are not insulated from the vagaries of inclement economic weather which is of global dimension,” he had said. (SaharaReporters)
