It is with utmost humility and a deep sense of responsibility that I write to bring to your notice
some predicament confronting N-powervolunteers. I am writing this letter as a beneficiary of this program and as someone whohas a firsthand experience of the problem I seek to express. But before I dive into the nitty-gritty of this letter, I would like to start by expressing my profound gratitude and congratulating you on this well done job. However, implementing a social investment program like this at a time the country is battling with one of the worst recession in living memory calls for keen
commendation.
This program will go down in history as the first of its kind in terms of efficiency, transparency
and fairness. The procedure you adopted made it possible for successful volunteers to emerge
through a process that was devoid of nepotism. Previous governments attempted many programs like this (SURE-P, NAPEP etc) but failed woefully. The programs hit rocks because they were hijacked by egocentric elements. It is against this backdrop we opted for this piece. We chose to make it an open letter because we can’t afford to deliver it to you in confidence.
Sir, one of the factors I believe is hampering this program is the communication gap that exists between the federal government on one hand and the binary of state governments and local governments on the other hand. Let us take N- power teach (The category I belong to) for
instance. The stewardship of N-teach volunteers is entirely left in the hand of local governments’ education secretaries. But the actions of these Education Officers suggest that they are ignorant of the raison d’etre of the program. And if you don’t call them to order, the aims and objectives
of the program would be defeated.I heard and watched your publicity aides in countless television and radio interviews shedding light on the objectives and specifications of the program. They made it clear that your government wants the volunteers posted to schools nearest to their places of
residence and that they should be reporting to work for three days in a week. But in addition to
posting most of the volunteers to remote villages with shuttle cost at N500 a day, the education
officials threatened to deal with any volunteer who doesn’t report to work throughout working
days. Most of the beneficiaries graduated from high Schol and years without job. We are now aspiring entrepreneurs because of the high hope this program gives us .And given that this program is
a two-year contract; we plan to save a large chunk of our monthly stipend so we can make
reasonable investment in order avoid the horrors of labor market upon the termination of our
contract. But we are afraid the determination of the Education Officials to subjugate us would not
let that happen. I feel honor bound to bring to your notice the issues confronting some of us concerning the payment of the monthly stipend. There are many volunteers that are yet to receive a single stipend. While we believe this hitches are mostly unavoidable, we urge the government to urgently address this issue.
Finally, I would like to suggest that the government set up a body that will oversee this program and work with selected Npower volunteers heads in each of the states of the federation. This will prevent saboteurs from infiltrating, hijacking and ruining the program.
Thank you. May God bless you with sound health and may he guide you and make you succeed against all odds.
Sarki Jamilu, Zaria, Kaduna State.
Npower Beneficiary.
Member (Npower Community Group)
