NO SAFE HAVEN IN KWARA: THE NYSC CAMP RELOCATION LAYS BARE GOVERNMENT’S TOTAL FAILURE BY ENGR. RIDWAN ELEMOSHO
The relocation of the NYSC Batch ‘B’ Stream II orientation camp from Yikpata in Edu Local Government, Kwara North, to Ilorin Polytechnic is not merely an administrative adjustment but a national humiliation and a tragic testament that insecurity has consumed Kwara State in its entirety. It is no longer a question of isolated incidents but a clear manifestation of a total breakdown of governance and public safety.
*For months, communities from the North to the South of Kwara have raised desperate alarms, yet the government has responded with cosmetic assurances while the situation deteriorates into chaos. Today, the very symbol of national service, the orientation camp where young graduates are expected to build patriotism and unity has been declared unsafe, and corps members can no longer be accommodated in Yikpata. When the state cannot guarantee the security of its youth within the walls of an official camp, then it is obvious that no farmer on his field, no trader on the highway, and no student in a classroom can feel safe.* *This relocation loudly announces that bandits and kidnappers now control the tempo of events in Kwara, while those elected to govern retreat into silence and propaganda.*
From Ifelodun to Isin, from Ekiti to Oke-Ero, and from Edu to Patigi, from Lafiaji to Kaima, villages have been repeatedly invaded, families shattered, and lives wasted, *yet the so-called guardians of the people watch idly as fear becomes the daily reality of citizens. Even federal institutions are now fleeing in the face of criminal violence. This silence and inaction from those in authority is not just incompetence but a betrayal of the social contract, a cowardly abdication of responsibility, and a dangerous admission that criminals are free to act without restraint*. *The Office of the National Security Adviser may issue claims of coordination, but the persistence of daily kidnappings and bloodshed on our highways proves those claims hollow and meaningless.
Kwara has degenerated into a state in captivity, where insecurity respects no geographical or social boundaries, North and South are bleeding in equal measure. The relocation of the NYSC camp makes it indisputably clear that the rule of law has been eclipsed by the rule of terror, and that government, stripped of will and direction, has resigned itself to impotence. This is not governance people want, it is the abandonment of duty in its most disgraceful form.
*How long shall the lives of innocent citizens be wasted before those in power take responsibility? The hour of excuses has expired. The state must not remain a killing field. We insist on immediate military deployment, the establishment of a joint task force with uncompromising rules of engagement, and a forensic audit of the billions allegedly expended on security. Anything less is complicity.*
The relocation of the NYSC camp is not merely a shame to Kwara but a permanent stain on Nigeria’s integrity. It is damning evidence that while our people are being slaughtered, kidnapped, and driven from their homes, those in power fold their arms and watch, rehearsing speeches while blood flows. This failure is inexcusable and unforgivable. Enough of the deceit, enough of the pretence. Kwara has been abandoned to criminals, and history will record this ruling class as traitors who betrayed their people at the hour of greatest need.
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