Delta State apologises to outgoing NYSC members for failing to pay their monthly stipends

A mind-blowing travesty. A heinous crime committed against our youth. But we want them to be honest. And good. And virtuous. And have integrity. We want their goats to see yam and look away.

News has emerged that Delta State Government has apologised to more than 3,000 NYSC members of 2014 Batch C who served in the state for failure to pay them right up till the end of their service year.

The Batch C members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) had passed out last Thursday but were not paid the stipends due by the state government. The governor, however, promised to pay them all the outstanding allowances through their individual bank accounts soon.

Money that you didn’t pay them while they were serving, you will now pay them after they’ve gone back to their father’s house?? Issorai. How much does a corper earn that you couldn’t pay it? Delta State? Oil money state?? What excuse could the government possibly have?

And when you think about the difference this money would make to these youth, it is completely unforgivable. I know that Okowa only just came to power, and my wrath is equally directed at the former governor, Uduaghan. When will the thieving end?

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was represented at the event by his deputy, Mr Kingsley Otuaro. He was understandably occupied – all that money won’t exactly spend itself, will it?

The deputy however forwarded the governor’s message to them, advising the young men and women to brace up to confront the challenges they would encounter in the labour market, saying they had gained some experience in their service year to draw from.

Yup, he’s right. Experience #1 – as long as you live and work in Nigeria, sometimes, someone with more power will withhold that which is rightfully yours. Simply because they can.

Shame on you, sirs. For shame.