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25.06.2016 Opinion

National Service And National Integration: Cohesion Or Adhesion?

By Abdul-Rahaman Jimba Ibn Nuhu Wa
Dr. Kpessa Whyte, National Service BossDr. Kpessa Whyte, National Service Boss
25.06.2016 LISTEN

In 1973, a brilliant scheme was instituted in this country, and now, every year, many young Ghanaian men and women who complete approved tertiary courses regardless of whether or not such courses were pursued in Ghana are expected to undertake a one-year compulsory national service.

From the standpoint of the national service secretariat, one important objective of the service is national integration. Objective 5 seeks to; promote national unity and strengthen the bonds of common citizenship among Ghanaians. This is antagonistic to the unflinching desire of the personnel which is skewed to regional or even local integration.

To demonstrate how serious the secretariat is in achieving its goal of national integration, it posts this in blocked letters at the end of the online application ‘THE SECRETARIAT IS NOT BOUND TO POST SERVICE PERSONNEL TO REGIONS OF THEIR PREFERENCE.’ Applicants are also required to indicate if they have any health condition. This implies there will be no tenable reason based on which changes will have to be made after postings are done.

Clearly, there exists a dichotomy between the principles of the service secretariat and the desires of the prospective service personnel. The question now is whether it is the secretariat or the personnel that win their fight. It is a fight between cohesion represented by the secretariat on one hand and adhesion represented by the personnel on another.

Take for a case, the secretariat wants Djapatsu from the foot of the Volta to travel and stay, work, interact, understand and tolerate the life of Kanton or Karbo on the belt of Guinea Savannah. Likewise, Tia should be able to live similar life with Kwame. This is a typical plan of national integration. It is however the case that many service personnel find ways of getting posted to where they desire. Others are even able to force changes after the postings are done. In either of these two cases, the aim of the secretariat in achieving national integration is what suffers defeat.

Regrettably, the secretariat cannot be exonerated from the list of those that facilitate this adhesion to the detriment of cohesion. There exist reports and at least anecdotal evidence that support that employees of the secretariat facilitate these changes for personnel. What a demonstration of hypocrisy! It is natural for personnel to want to stay and serve where they come from. This does not necessarily mean they detest cohesion but it doesn’t promote it either. The secretariat it is, that must stand its grounds; after all, national service is a civic responsibility.

In a country where everything we do has political inclinations, the role of the political hand cannot be left out in this literature. Many times, it is a party chairman, a chief executive or even a minister who calls and gives directives on the postings of their favourites. The vulnerable public servant at the secretariat fears for his job and will not think twice but do what these politicians say. We deserve a break from this political bulldozing. It is paradoxical that these same politicians will sit on national television and call for unity amongst the citizenry just after murdering it.

One will not be fair if you omit society from the basket that contains list of factors militating against national service in its effort to achieving its objective of national integration. There are some tribal groups in this country that are very hostile to strangers. They identify with themselves alone and no one else. Some are egomaniac and others just seem to have an insatiable revulsion for strangers. These attitudes do not help in nation building but retard all efforts towards cohesion. If the National Service Secretariat were to conduct a simple survey, it would be realised that, personnel do not want to serve in some districts, not because they are rural, but because the people there are simply unaccommodating. And again, there is anecdotal evidence to support this. We all deserve a better deal if we must build a united nation worthy of dying for.

Looking forward, I think the secretariat should organize forums at intervals during which personnel and community members interact and the objective of the scheme in promoting national unity and strengthening the bonds of common citizenship among Ghanaians highlighted.

With corruption rocking the scheme, it should be the prayer of all that something be done to remedy the situation else, national service in the long run will not be any better than the paper on which Act 426 (of 1980), the legal mother of the scheme, was written. I rest my case!

Abdul-Rahaman Jimba Ibn Nuhu
Wa
+233207896079/242347160
[email protected]

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