Why do corps members think NYSC food is no longer cutting it?
Corps members think their food is either not rich enough, or when they have to buy at the camp-stationed markets, it tastes remarkably expensive.
Although the leadership of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deny reports of such happenings around camps, the most recent batch of corps members have shared complaints about the quality and also quantity of their meals not being good enough.
On Thursday, 15 February, the corps members mobilised under the 2024 Batch ‘A’ first stream arrived at their various orientation camps to serve, but the experiences barely under a week since the programme opened hadn’t been what they expected.
What is driving this feeling is mainly inflation which makes the cost of a meal sold in the camps unaffordable. And since they are unable to patronise the Mammy markets, corps members have found themselves relying on camp-made food which is what many are bringing attention to.
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Across social media, there are tweets and all sorts of disparaging posts mirroring the devastation that feeding has brought on.
I’m in the NYSC camp now and this girl [who] seems to be from an Ajebo family came to join the line when it was mealtime. Immediately they gave her the food, she opened it and started crying, reads a tweet by a corps member Siinclair_Ness.
Chelsea had a match today, and for [the first] time in a long while, I didn’t watch it live because I was [in a queue] for nysc food, Oluwanifise also adds.
Chelsea had a match today, and for the a first time in a long while, I didn't watch it live because I was on que for nysc food 😂
Nysc 15:0 Nifise— Oluwanifise (@Oluwanifise13) February 17, 2024
The current situation in the camps has made former corps members remember their days in the service and also make comparisons. With inflation reaching 29.90% as of January, buying a slightly filling meal in a camp market costs not less than N1,000, according to some members.
When the reports of the exorbitant meals reached the NYSC’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, he thought the accounts were nothing but a tissue of lies, intended to cause mischief even though the reality on the ground hints at difficult situations that corps members find themselves dealing with.
ALSO READ: There are talks and no luck as Nigeria tries to quickly bring food prices down
If their experience relating to the steepness in the cost of food proves to be true, it would be a reflection of the entire country.
One of the big problems President Bola Tinubu finds himself dealing with at this moment in time is the challenge of food insecurity mainly blamed on hoarders. This is why Mr Tinubu has set up a task force which includes cabinet ministers and security heads to look for a way out although Nigerians are generally growing out of patience
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
