The remains of Chidiebere Orji, a twenty-six-year-old National Youth Service Corps member, were buried on March 25, 2026, in his home state of Enugu. Orji was among twenty-five people killed on March 17 when coordinated suicide bombings struck Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Over one hundred others were injured in the attacks, which have been attributed to Boko Haram remnants still active in the northeast.
Orji had been posted to Borno State for his mandatory one-year service, a programme designed to send young graduates to parts of the country far from home. He was doing what the law required of him. He was obeying the system. The system did not protect him.
The NYSC programme was established in 1973, shortly after the civil war, with the aim of promoting national unity and integration among young Nigerians. For over fifty years, it has sent fresh graduates across state lines to live, work, and serve in unfamiliar communities. But the programme was conceived in a different Nigeria. Since 2014, more than fifty corps members have lost their lives in the volatile northeastern region alone, a figure that has steadily chipped away at whatever goodwill the scheme once enjoyed.
The Maiduguri bombings have brought that frustration to a breaking point. Across social media, Nigerians mourned Orji not just as a victim of terrorism but as a symbol of a system that continues to place young lives in proven danger zones without adequate protection. Thread after thread carried the same message. Enough is enough.
Many users called for immediate reform of the programme. Some proposed making service optional rather than compulsory. Others suggested restricting postings to corps members’ home regions or neighbouring states, removing the obligation to serve in areas with active insurgencies. A significant number went further, calling for the outright abolition of NYSC, arguing that the programme has outlived its purpose and now functions more as a risk than a rite of passage….See More
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