By John Oba
Abuja
Management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has warned officials or institutions of higher learning against including names of unqualified graduates in their approved list for NYSC mobilisation would be liable for criminal prosecution.
This was part of resolutions made at the 2017 Batch ‘A’ Pre-Mobilisation Workshop in Minna, Niger state.
The workshop, therefore, advised corps-producing institutions to ensure that no unqualified graduate makes the Senate or Academic Board’s approved list for mobilisation into the national service.
In a keynote address presented at the start of the business session, the Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Sulaiman Kazaure, disclosed that two institutions of higher learning were under investigation by regulatory bodies for allegedly presenting
unqualified persons to the Scheme for mobilisation.
He noted that despite the effort of the NYSC to stem the tide of uploading of unqualified candidates and graduates of part-time programmes, a few institutions had adopted new strategies to sustain the unwholesome practice.
“Among other things, the law excludes all non-holders of HND and First Degree, graduates of institutions not recognised by the federal government and graduates of part-time programmes, etc.
“However, some institutions even as lately as the last mobilisation exercise assisted people in these mentioned categories to infiltrate the service corps,” he said.
Kazaure said if found guilty, the two institutions being investigated would have appropriate sanctions meted out to them, while any graduates fraudulently presented for mobilisation would be withdrawn from service.
He reminded corps-producing institutions that as trainers of future leaders, “they have the responsibility to guide their students to the right path rather than abet forgery and other criminal tendencies.”
He also highlighted some other aspects of the mobilisation guidelines, which the institutions were expected to properly adhere to, and sought their cooperation towards the achievement of a seamless mobilisation process.
