Salako Abdulazeez

Prior to the Flamingos winning the U-17 World Cup, at least hundreds of your followers were all over social media praying and wishing that the team must not win the trophy because the President of the country which they represent must not celebrate anything meaningful as a President. Suddenly, the team won the trophy and on their return to the country, they are supposed to come and present the trophy to you as per the President that you are? Then you started to cry all over your social media pages lamenting about how you were not allowed to meet the team to greet them. In what capacity are you doing that? Aren’t you a common or ordinary citizen yourself? So what is so special about you that they must greet you first? Nonsense

This NYSC issue exposes the lack of understanding of the allocation of responsibilities among public institutions in Nigeria. Ogun State is a victim of its own standards, just like Lagos has always been. Let me establish some facts: 1. Ogun State has one of the best NYSC Orientation Camp infrastructures in Nigeria. The Sagamu camp is consistently recognised by corps members for its facilities, security and organisation. 2. NYSC is solely responsible for the deployment of corps members to states. It determines how many people are posted to each camp. 3. Ogun State's camp has a maximum capacity of about 3,000, yet NYSC deployed over 4,000 corps members there. The number has reportedly risen from the usual 1,500 to over 4,000. 4. The camp is now overcrowded as a result. Yet, Governor Dapo Abiodun has gone ahead to provide over 600 additional beds to accommodate the unexpected increase. Now, how exactly does this translate to Ogun State failing to provide adequate facilities? The state has invested in infrastructure, provided a standard camp (see the video attached) and even gone beyond its expected responsibilities to accommodate the consequences of NYSC's deployment decisions. Rather than holding NYSC accountable for deploying more than the camp's capacity, some people are attacking the state that has done considerably more than it is required to do. This is exactly what Lagos experiences. States that set higher standards often become victims of the demand those standards attract. You cannot reward excellence with more responsibility and then blame the state when a federal agency fails to manage the resulting numbers. Direct your anger at the institution responsible for deployment.