Re-awakening the culture of volunteer service

Tunde Felix a youth corper member hopes for a better world by his service to humanity. Photo: REUTERS

A youth corps member, Tunde Felix, volunteered to join the Red Cross Society while in the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp and found it quite fascinating to be so engaged in the service of humanity.

He enthuses about his experience in the camp, saying it motivates him to willingly be at the service of humanity whenever the need arises. Mr Felix says that he has taken part in activities aimed at providing care, first aid to the sick and accident victims, adding that he found the volunteer work really fulfilling.

Observers say that volunteer work is not alien to the African culture and they note that it enables communities to effect desirable social changes, enhance social cohesion, while developing corporate and individual capacities in different social spheres.

Volunteers basically provide humanitarian services to the people, and there are several groups now offering these volunteer services. These agencies include the Rotary Club, the Red Cross Society, and the Man o’ War, among others.

Sociologists claim that volunteer work is a worthwhile social investment, saying that volunteers provide specific services that foster the growth of the society. This is because they engage communities and individuals, particularly at the grassroots level, in development efforts, while increasing public awareness of the myriad of challenges people face in any community.

Volunteer service delivery is a global phenomenon and the recognition of the pivotal roles of volunteers in human development made Nigerian youth, under the aegis of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), to celebrate the 10th International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) last February.

At the event, Mr Taiye Haruna, permanent secretary (political affairs), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, underscored the importance of volunteers in a country’s development process and stressed the need to re-awaken the culture of volunteer service delivery in Nigeria.

He emphasised that volunteer service delivery was not just a selfless act of generosity and human kindness, adding that it had also become veritable tools for national development.

He noted that the recognition of this global phenomenon compelled governments of countries across the world to set up structures and initiate purposeful policies to promote the development of volunteer services.

Volunteer service for development

Going from the general to the specifics, Mr Haruna said that the Federal Government established the Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS) to promote volunteer services in Nigeria and guide their processes.

“In keeping with this mandate, the NNVS is ready to work with and support all those who seek to promote service through volunteerism,” Mr Haruna said, and pledged the federal government’s readiness to promote the growth of volunteerism in the country, saying that “the involvement of more Nigerians in volunteer service will aid the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

The permanent secretary’s sentiments are quite justifiable, as reports from countries across the world indicate the growing importance of volunteer services in handling specific human development assignments.

For instance, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme says that the volunteer service scheme has been a success story in many countries such as Sudan. The UNV says that volunteers engaged from within these countries have been very useful in the campaign against the cultural-sensitive issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), for example.

In most cultures, volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UNV volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development efforts, in union with host agencies and local communities.

The principles of volunteerism, according to the UNV, are solidarity, humanity, free will, commitment, impartiality and altruism - the sense of helping others without expecting any form of monetary reward.

Another agency, Volunteer in Africa, which is solely dedicated to disseminating information on volunteer work and volunteer-tours’ schemes in Africa, says that volunteerism fosters communal participation and inclusion of people at the grassroots level, including vulnerable and disadvantaged persons.

Analysts, however, insist that there are many factors underlying moves to undertake volunteer assignments.

Motivating factors

Yemi Sangodeyi, an anthropologist, says that some people are encouraged to go into volunteer work by their desire and quest to help the less privileged members of the society, while others are stimulated by their yearning to make the world a better place to live in.

He says that most of the volunteers are often equipped with first-hand information about the society’s problems, including poverty, hunger, malnutrition, disease, unemployment, and environmental degradation, before going into the venture.

Mr Sangodeyi, nonetheless, says that this service is fast becoming a strange phenomenon in the country, as the younger generation of Nigerians is becoming increasingly unconcerned about the plight of others.

He says that most of Nigerian youth seem to have been affected with the get-rich-quick syndrome, adding that the flamboyant lifestyles of the country’s leaders and top public servants are not helping matters either.

“The ostentatious living of our leaders have negatively affected the psyche of our youth who now think that it is ‘madness’ to provide any form of services free of charge,” says Mr Sangodeyi.

Olawale Ajani, the president the NYCN, shares a similar viewpoint, saying that nowadays, most citizens do not want to make any form of sacrifice because “everybody thinks that nothing should be done for free”.

“Today, volunteerism is not what it is supposed to be because everyone wants to be paid for any service rendered. No one sees public service as free service any longer, as people render service with the hope of getting some reward.

“The spirit of volunteerism is dying,” he says, adding, “That’s why we are talking about it today because we believe that if the citizens, particularly the youth, can fully appreciate the need to render volunteer services, Nigeria will consequently experience a positive turnaround.

Leaders as bad examples

Mr Ajani, nonetheless, laments that the country’s leaders are not living by example, as they are only interested in what they can get from the system and not in how to promote Nigeria’s development.

At the IYV+10 celebration, Hajara Modu, the acting director, NNVS, said that the agency was mobilising the skills and resources of Nigerians living abroad for volunteer work in aid of the country’s development.

She said that retirees from public and private sector agencies were also being encouraged to contribute to national development through volunteer services.

Mrs Modu said that the NNVS, since its inception in 2003, had been able to make some achievements in promoting volunteerism via seminars, conferences, and workshops geared towards the creation of public awareness.

She said that a lot of volunteer work is being undertaken via the NYSC, adding that corps members carry out varying community development activities during their service years.

The general consensus is that efforts should be made to promote and standardise volunteerism in Nigeria, as many believe in its usefulness in nation-building efforts.