The speaker of House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, confirmed on Tuesday, February 27, that President Muhammadu Buhari rejected the Nigerian Peace Corps bill.
The President had, through a letter dated 25th January 2018 and submitted to the House yesterday, cited financial implications and duplication of duties of existing security agencies, as reasons for withholding his assent.
The Peace Corps of Nigeria bill has a long history with the formal procedure. It was first represented in the House of Representatives in November 2016.
The refusal of the president to sign the bill establishing the Peace Corps bill into law has sparked up viral divergent reactions from Nigerians.
On Wednesday, March 7, Dino Melaye, the lawmaker representing Kogi west, raised a point of order on the bill.
Relying on the Senate rules, Melaye urged the upper legislative chamber to revisit the bill with a view to veto the president if he failed to rescind his rejection of the bill.
Are the president’s reasons for rejecting the bill genuine? Why are the lawmakers seemingly hell-bent on establishing Peace Corps in Nigeria? How important is the Peace Corps to occupy this level of importance in the National Assembly?
NAIJ.com brings you a comprehensive detail about the origin of Peace Corps, its set purposes and objectives and how it came to Nigeria.
The Origin of Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is a volunteer programme run by the United States government.
It was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, announced by televised broadcast on March 2, 1961, and authorised by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293).
Why Peace Corps was established
The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries.
How Peace Corps operates
The programme is generally related to social and economic development. Each participant, a Peace Corps Volunteer, is an American citizen, typically with a college degree, who works abroad for a period of two years after three months of training.
Volunteers work with governments, schools, non-profit organizations, non-government organizations, and entrepreneurs in education, business, information technology, agriculture, and the environment. After 24 months of service, volunteers can request an extension of service.
United States Peace Corps volunteers in Samoa. Photo credit: US Department of State
The main purpose of Peace Corps as outlined by the United States Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293)
1. To promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary
2. To help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower
From 1961 to 2015, nearly 220,000 Americans have reportedly joined the Peace Corps and served in 141 countries. The Peace Corps shows "the willingness of Americans to work at the grassroots level in order to help underdeveloped countries meet their needs".
The Peace Corps has affected the way people of other countries view Americans, how Americans view other countries, and how Americans view their own country.
Peace Corps in Nigeria
Peace Corps was established in Nigeria by Dickson Akoh who reportedly started the organization as an NGO and later tried to incorporate the organization into a paramilitary government agency.
Dickson Akoh, the founder of Peace Corps of Nigeria, in his office. Credit: peacecorpsofnigeria.org
Conclusion
Peace Corps, as established by the United States operates like boys scouts and also operates on a voluntary basis. It’s not an organization meant for paid employment.
It operates like Red Cross, Teachers without Borders, Doctors without Borders, and so on.
To fit in with the original objectives of Peace Corps as created by the United States, Nigerian ‘Peace Corps’ should operate like an NGO and get volunteers and liaise with government agencies to see how to help in developing the nation.
In fact, Peace Corps once operated in Nigeria as a US programme in 1961-1976 and 1992-1995.
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So the fact remains that Peace Corps was designed for a certain purpose; a programme that enables United States to help developing countries and also understand other cultures.
Therefore, trying to incorporate Peace Corps in Nigeria as a security agency under the government’s payroll deviates completely from the original objectives of Peace Corps as established by the United States.
In an earlier report by NAIJ.com, members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 6, vowed to sue Joseph Nwadike, a legal officer serving with the Nigeria Police Force.
Nwadike, a police superintendent was alleged to have lied under oath in an investigation involving the Peace Corps of Nigeria and the Nigerian Police Force.
The chairman of the House committee on public petitions, Nkem Abonta, while hearing the petition against the inspector general of police, Ibrahim Idris by the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Justice and Equity, over the sealing of Peace Corps office said the lower chamber will not hesitate to take actions against the officer.
Nwadike who had appeared alongside another legal officer of the force, Samuel Malu on behalf of the IGP admitted to the House committee that the attorney general of the federation advised the court orders on the unsealing of the PCN building be obeyed.
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Source: Naija.ng
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