IN THE NATION’S INTEREST

Nigerian Peace Corps will do the nation a lot of good, argues Rogers Edor Ochela

Since the Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC) Bill was introduced on the floor of the National Assembly, went through all legislative processes, passed, adopted and transmitted to the President for assent, it has been consistently dogged by needless controversies. As one who has been keeping track and monitoring all the criticisms of the NPC bill, we have decided to embark on the arduous assignment of unveiling some of the essential features of the bill for the benefit of Nigerians.

The bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Hon. Umar Farouk and the Senate by Senator Ali Ndume, went through all necessary legislative processes, including public hearing where over 574 memoranda and oral presentations were made. Virtually all the memoranda and presentations made by religious organisations, traditional rulers, federal governmental ministries and agencies, state governments, state Houses of Assembly, civil society organisations, NGO’s, youth and student bodies participated in the public hearing and supported the bill. Out of this staggering number of participants, only four agencies namely, Federal Ministry of Interior, the Police, Civil Defence Corps and Office of the National Security Adviser were opposed to the bill. This piece will dwell mainly on the followings: the functions of Peace Corps; the governing board; its hierarchical structure (staff and membership); appointment, promotion, offences and discipline of staff; administrative structure and zonal commands and financial provisions. The bill is to give statutory backing to the Peace Corps of Nigeria, whose core mandate is: to develop, empower and provide gainful employment for the youths, to facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services, nation-building, neighbourhood watch, and other related matters. Other functions training of youths to advance the course of nation-building and conflict transformation through peace education, mediation and conflict resolution among warring groups or communities; building the capacity of the youths in the areas of critical thinking, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and skills acquisition; re-directing the creative potential of the youths towards patriotic services and nation-building through citizenship and leadership training; establishing Peace Corps Clubs and combating all forms of social decadence or vices, including examination malpractices in educational institutions in order to create a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for learning; engaging members in crowd control during public functions; serving as orderlies to members of the executive, parliament. Judiciary and traditional rulers that are not covered by existing security agencies and carrying out any other function(s) as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly or by any bye-law, etc.

According to the bill, there shall be a governing board for the corps, which shall consist of one, a chairman, who must be a person of proven integrity; two, representative each of the Federal Ministries of Youth Development, Interior, Employment, Labour and Productivity, Education, Environment, Finance and Justice. Other members shall comprise of representative each of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Orientation Agency, National Population Commission, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation and National Directorate of Employment, with the National Commandant of the Corps serving as the secretary. The major functions of the board include: provision of general policies and guidelines relating to major expansion of the corps; supervision of management and general administration of the corps. However, before the constitution of the board or when it is dissolved, the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Youth shall perform the functions of the board.

The staff shall be a National Commandant (NC) for the corps to be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the minister, who is to hold office for five years and may be eligible for reappointment for another term of five years. While recruitment of regular members and staff of the corps shall be by the board, such members shall be Nigerians within the age bracket of 18-35 years.

While the appointment of senior staff of the rank of commandant and above shall be by the president upon nomination by the national commandant and recommendation of the board, the appointment of state commandants shall be by the board on the recommendation of the NC. Similarly, the post of deputy national commandant shall be a terminal post on which the holder shall retire from Peace Corps as may be determined by the president.

The membership of the senior staff disciplinary committee shall consist of a deputy national commandant and assistant national commandant with the deputy national commandant serving as chairman. In the absence of a deputy national commandant, the most senior assistant national commandant shall serve as chairman. There is provision for a provost marshal, head of legal matters; and National Corps Secretary. A junior staff disciplinary committee is vested with the powers to discipline the junior staff of the corps.

The headquarters of the corps shall be in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and headed by the national commandant and there shall be departments of administration, finance and accounts, training and operations; intelligence and security; peace building and conflict resolution; monitoring and evaluation; personnel, record and welfare; and logistics and supply.

While each department shall be headed by an officer not below the rank of DNC, all these departments shall be established at the various command structures. A lot of fuss has been made about funding for the corps so much that the president also used it as part of his reasons for withholding assent to the NPC Bill. This is, however, surprising for an organisation that has survived for 27 years as a private entity. So, if corps could survive all these years without any form of government subvention, what makes these critics think it cannot still survive now with little funding from the government?

Happily enough, the bill provides that the corps shall establish and maintain a fund into which shall be paid: (a) all subventions and budgetary allocations from the federal government; (b) all sums accruing to the corps from donations made by local or international donor agencies; (c) statutory allocations from the federal government; (d) gifts from the tiers of government, ministries or agencies and private corporations; (e) loans, grants and aid; and (f) bequests. Ochela, is Media Consultant to Peace Corps of Nigeria