8 Years Without Certificate: NYSC Punishes Woman For Missing Passing Out Parade Due To Childbirth

Mrs. Prudence Chimezie Agada, a Nigerian woman who is based in Abuja, has made accusations against the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

She accused the NYSC of deliberately refusing to release her national service discharge certificate to her, eight years after she completed her one-year compulsory national service.

Mrs. Agada revealed to SaharaReporters that she completed her national service in April 2016 at the Gwagwalada Area Council Secretariat in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.

However, the NYSC management has withheld her certificate of national service due to the fact that she gave birth to her son just four days before the Passing Out Parade (POP), preventing her from attending the ceremony.

Her husband, Mr. Peter Agada, who spoke on her behalf said that though she was pregnant during NYSC service period, she discharged her duties satisfactorily to the best of her ability without any complaint from her Place of Primary Assignment (PPA), nor did she violate any NYSC laws.

According to Agada, “On April 12, 2016, prior to their Passing Out Parade on April 16, 2016, she delivered a baby boy at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada.

“Within a month, we went to the NYSC FCT Secretariat with the newborn baby and all the documents from the hospital for the collection of her discharge certificate and we were told to come after three weeks, that the staff were back to the camp as there were new corps members on camp.  

“We went back as instructed only for them to tell us that my wife can't collect her discharge certificate no matter the excuse we have.

“They said that rule states that it is only on camp during the passing out parade that corps members collect their discharge certificates.”

Agada said that all their pleas with the NYSC officials were vehemently ignored. He said after about a year of their countless visits to the NYSC FCT Secretariat for the discharge certificate, she was asked to do an extension of service, a punishment meant for an erring corps members, “just because my wife gave birth to our son four days to POP and could not attend the POP”.

Agada said, “One man advised them against such punishment that it will amount to violation of my wife’s fundamental rights but they claimed that my wife's file was missing and they started looking for it. Thereafter, they told us the file had been found and returned to the headquarters.

“One of the NYSC staff members, Mrs. Ifeoma and one Mrs. Bamai, who was an Assistant Director at that time vehemently opposed the advice of the man and ensured that my wife didn't get her discharge certificate for reasons best known to them.  

“One of them openly told us to go to hell, that we can't do anything, and that even if we go to court and get a judgment, it will still amount to nothing.  

“She boasted that I don’t know the number of garnishee orders pending against NYSC and asked where the judgment creditors were. She said that we are not the first people and won't be the last.”

However, Agada said the NYSC never assigned his wife to a PPA for the extension service, rather, the Coordinator of the NYSC, FCT Secretariat wrote a letter titled “Posting On Extension of Service” and dated March 1, 2017, to the AD HRM, NYSC FCT Secretariat, Wuse Zone 5.

Consequent upon the letter, Agada said they have followed up with the NYSC for the release of the certificate for the past eight years but till date, they have refused to release the certificate of national service.

Agada said they have been “pleading with them so that my wife can use the certificate for whatever purpose that pleases her but they refused, leaving my wife exhausted, psychologically traumatised, depressed, unfulfilled, humiliated, and making her abandon my family and children”.

He said, “My wife now abhors the marriage she once cherished, abandoning the children she once loved, including me, her husband whom she has seen as the root cause of her ordeal. She is completely empty and exhausted.  

“She now hates our son and me because she said that if she had not gotten married, she would not have been pregnant let alone giving birth to our son when she would have been at the NYSC POP to collect her discharge certificate.”

“I am hereby calling on all Nigerians of good conscience, the women community, good-spirited individuals and organisations to come to my wife's aid and hold the government of Nigeria responsible should anything happen to her,” Agada said.

SaharaReporters contacted the NYSC through its spokesperson, Dr. Eddy Megwa, for reaction and clarifications of some of the claims made by Mrs. Ifeoma and Mrs. Bamai, particularly, that the NYSC laws stipulate that anyone who did not attend the Passing Out Parade, including a pregnant woman who delivers a baby less than a week to POP will never be given a certificate of national service.

SaharaReporters sought confirmation and clarification from the NYSC regarding claims made by Mrs. Ifeoma and Mrs. Bamai that the agency has ignored multiple court cases and judgments, potentially committing contempt of court and operating above the law.

Additionally, SaharaReporters requested that the NYSC clarify whether the behavior of its staff, including telling Agada to "go to hell", is acceptable under the agency's standards, and if so, what specific disciplinary actions are taken against such professional misconduct.

Despite being contacted, NYSC spokesperson, Megwa, only requested Mrs. Agada's service code and mobile phone number, promising to promptly investigate the issue.

However, he failed to provide any further information or address the specific questions posed to him. A follow-up reminder was sent, but although Megwa acknowledged receiving it, he remained unresponsive, leaving the inquiries unanswered as of the time this report was filed.