Southerners oppose youth serving in Sharia states

‘The Guardian’, a Lagos daily, reported on Wednesday that 63.7 percent of a random sample poll of 688 people in the south and north-central parts of the country opposed sending their children for national service in Nigeria’s Sharia states.

The poll, the second conducted by ‘The Guardian’, showed that only 8.87 percent, or 95 respondents, supported sending southerners, most of whom practice Christianity or African religions, to the north. The newspaper did not mention the poll’s margin of error.

Opposition to southerners doing their stint in the National Youth Service Corps in the Sharia states was first voiced by an association of elder statesmen and respected opinion leaders calling themselves The Patriots, ‘The Guardian’ said. These leaders said Sharia law violated the fundamental human rights of non-Muslims and threatened the safety of southern corps members assigned to the north.

The corps was established in 1973. At the time, it was thought the service would help promote national unity and imbue the youth with a sense of patriotism. Therefore, the decree establishing the programme was unequivocal on sending corps members to serve outside their home states.

Youth corps service is compulsory for university students and failure to do it can attract a fine of 2,000 naira (just under US $10) or 12 months imprisonment, or both.