(DDM) – A growing wave of concern over nationwide insecurity has intensified following a strongly worded warning issued by Pastor Femi Olaleye, who urged Nigerian youths not to report for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) if posted to northern states.
Diaspora Digital Media DDM confirmed that Pastor Olaleye delivered the caution with emotional weight, describing his message as one coming “from a father” deeply troubled by the rising danger young Nigerians face during their one-year mandatory service.
In a viral statement, the pastor condemned what he described as the government’s inability to guarantee the safety of corps members deployed to volatile regions.
He lamented that many parents who sacrificed everything to train their children could end up losing them to insecurity, banditry, terrorism, or targeted attacks in regions plagued by violence.
Pastor Olaleye stressed that it was “madness” for any parent to release their child into a system that has repeatedly failed to offer protection, empathy, or accountability after innocent lives have been lost.
He claimed that Nigeria has a track record of forgetting victims, downplaying tragedies, or even denying casualties when youths are harmed during NYSC assignments.
According to him, “wicked men” have turned the nation’s youth into expendable pawns in a failing security environment.
He advised graduates to seek redeployment to safer regions, insisting that choosing self-preservation should not be seen as disobedience, but as an act of wisdom and survival.
This warning comes amid a long history of deadly attacks on NYSC members, particularly in northern states, where terrorism, banditry, communal clashes, and targeted killings remain persistent threats.
Over the last decade, corps members have been kidnapped, assaulted, harassed, or killed while serving in regions classified as high-risk by multiple security think-tanks.
Parents’ associations, civil society groups, and safety advocates have repeatedly called for NYSC to either suspend postings to insecure states or restructure the national service scheme entirely.
Many have argued that the original intention of NYSC, to foster unity and national integration, has been overshadowed by a harsh reality where young graduates face deadly dangers.
Pastor Olaleye’s remarks also reignite the national debate on whether NYSC should be optional, decentralized, or fully reformed to adapt to Nigeria’s current security crisis.
His message has gained traction across social media platforms, where thousands of youths and parents echoed fears about the safety of deployments to northern states.
The pastor ended his statement with a blunt piece of advice to Nigerian youths: “If you are harmed, this country will forget you. Wisen up.”
His warning, now widely circulated, adds renewed pressure on policymakers to prioritize corps members’ safety and reassess NYSC postings in unstable regions.
