Making National Service Optional Will Not Help Achieve Purpose Former NSS Boss

A former Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Vincent S. Kuagbenu, is of the view that making national service optional rather than mandatory will not help to achieve the purpose for which it was instituted.

For him, the proposal by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is also the flag bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), to make national service optional for graduates when voted as President in 2025, will affect many communities that are currently enjoying the services of NSS personnel.

The former NSS boss who was speaking in a radio interview on Accra-based Citi FM on Thursday evening, February 8, 2024, alleged that the Vice President was introducing the optional arm of the national service because he [Bawumia] did not do national service himself.

According to him, records at the National Service Secretariat indicate that Vice President Bawumia skipped national service.

"We have people like Bawumia skipping national service," he stated, adding “We must keep protecting this (NSS)."

Mr Kuagbenu said he was shocked when he heard Vice President Bawumia’s proposal on national service, adding "I was most scandalised hearing Vice President say this."

For him, the national service allows new graduates to gain employable skills, arguing that “Vice president doesn’t want the youth to develop their skills."

The former NSS boss rather called for more resources to be injected into the service to improve its operations.