The concept of voluntary service is all about devoting oneself in fulfilling a task without the motive of getting rewarded or paid for it, for a person like me I have definitely done it several times but there is a category of voluntary service that supercede it all which is an activity that exist within the NYSC scheme called Community development service (CDS), for those who don't know what national youth service Corps is all about let me quickly dive into a brief introduction of the scheme before getting into the gist of the day.
The existence of mandatory service for citizens of a state has been in practices for decades, an effective approach in ensuring mandatory contribution from every citizen of a state in order to foster national development and propagate oneness among the populace of a state. Nigeria like any other sovereign state is no stranger to such practices, one of the most prominent mandatory service around here is the Nigeria youth service corp (NYSC) which was established in 1973 by the former Nigeria head of state general Yakubu gowan in his aim to put an end to the civil unrest that served as a threat the country's stability.
The primary objective of the Nigeria youth service corp scheme was to promote unity and reconciliation among the diversity of ethnic groups and tribes that exist within the geographical boundaries of Nigeria. It was a bold step to maintain peace among different political structures with diverse opinion on matters of politics and leadership of the country. Such is expected from a country harbouring hundreds of ethnic groups that differs in areas of social cultural perspectives, religion and most especially language barrier.
The Nigeria youth service Corps scheme has been in existence for decades, soaring high and above among other African countries who aimed at integrating same scheme but today they are nowhere to be found. NYSC is undergone by graduates from different accredited institutions in Nigeria either University or polytechnic, serving as a symbol of greatness and patriotism for students who has successfully become certified graduates in their respective disciplines. As a result of the establishment of this scheme, we now have students being randomly mobilised every year in batches to undergo a mandatory service mandated y the Nigeria constitution.
A scheme in which I'm also a product of, A journey that began in March 17 this year, driving me to a community in Oyo state where I still currently serve as a corp member teaching in a school. So what is community development service (CDS) all about? Just like the name entails, it involves corp members voluntarily participating some activities as a group or individual to promote standard of living and also enlighten people about some concepts and ideas that might seem alien to them. It aims at ensuring corp members engage in activities that would foster national development, make them familiar with the community and instill patriotism.
While In camp, different co-operations and governmental agencies such as road safety, EFCC, ICPC, NDLEA e.t.c They would come around educate every corp member about the need to sensitise the populace of Nigeria in areas related to organisations various disciplines. At the end of the orientation camp activities, every corp members is mandated to choose among these groups for community development services {CDS}. I joined NDLEA WADA group while in camp but unfortunately my community does not have provision for such CDS activities but then we find ourselves on another path.
In my community, CDS holds every Thursday and we around performing all kind of voluntary activities in the community ranging from sanitation exercise, sensitisation programs in schools and within the community, donation of essential materials to the locals e.t.c we randomly choose these voluntary activities which also considered as part of our duty as a corp member. These voluntary activities holds every week so it is not a matter when but what to do next.
For most people the CDS activities does seem like much because it feels like a forced voluntary service but then there are lot of perks and lesson attached to it especially in a rural community like mine. Due to the consistent CDS activities I have engaged in over time, it has brought about self-awareness about some factors I never really considered. In order to ensure a CDS related activity is successful We make research especially if it is a sensitisation exercise. I mean you can't enlighten the people if don't understand the challenges they are are facing and available solutions. This research process has allowed me to gain more insight about people living in rural communities.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Volunteering and community work" in hive learners community.
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