It was real drama in Kano as angry corps members disrupted passing out parade activities over non-payment of their allowances.
According to
SaharaReporters, there was heightened tension on Wednesday at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Karaye as angry corps members of Batch A, Stream 2 in Kano State staged a protest over the non-payment of their allowances.
The protesters disrupted the passing-out parade attended by Kano State Commissioner of Information Moh'd Garba. While protesters demanded the payment of their allowances, Kano State NYSC Coordinator Malam Abdullai Yusuf Baba said the corps members should have received their first payment alerts either at 4 PM on Tuesday or early Wednesday morning.
Mr. Garba was welcomed to the ceremony by corps members chanting, “Hey hey yawah go dey. Hey hey yawah go dey if allowee no pay, yawah go dey.” All attempts by Mr. Garba to calm down the crowd failed as parade attendees began to leave the parade grounds.
In an effort to assuage the protesters, Mr. Abdullahi promised to pay the corps members their allowances in cash before leaving the camp.
The protest lasted over three hours before NYSC employees eventually brought the money from the bank to pay the corps members their allowances.
Speaking on the arrival of the allowance, Mr. Garba commended the corps members for not allowing the protest to devolve into a crisis.
“I will not condemn you for expressing your displeasure. I know we are passing through a tense economic situation,” he told the protesters.
Mr. Garba added, however, that they could have respected the Sarki Karaye, who he said was the representative of the Emir of Kano, Malam Mohammed Sanusi, by expressing their grievances in a subtle manner.
The passing-out ceremony never came to pass, as after the money arrived, corps members rushed to collect their long-awaited allowances.