THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE PEACE CORPS!

Mohammed Buhari 

Before you crucify PMB for decline Peace Corps bill, firstly we need to start
by understanding how peace Corps came into existence kindly read.
The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States government. 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. The work is generally related to social and economic development. Each program 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.
The program was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, announced by televised broadcast March 2, 1961, and authorized by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293). The act declares the program's purpose as follows:

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, 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 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.

Now back to Nigeria it all started by Dickson Akoh who started the organization as an NGO and later tried to incorporate the organization into a paramilitary government agency.

I don’t know Dickson neither do I have anything against him but, he ,misled Nigerian youths. peace corps operates like boys scouts and also operates on a voluntary bases. It’s not an organization meant for paid employment. It totally operates like Red Cross, teachers without borders, doctors without border, and also I would say like the United Nations volunteers program.

Now he should have operated it like an NGO and get volunteers and liaise with government agencies to see how to help in developing the nation.

It will interest my readers that peace corps once operated in Nigeria as a US program in 1961-1976 and 1992-1995. So we had no business creating such program in Nigeria especially when the program was designed for a certain purpose for United States helping developing countries.

Mr Dickson did not stop there, him and his team started extorting money from vulnerable young Nigerians most especially poor Nigerian who need jobs, secondary school graduates, and others turning them into security guards for few organization and homes across the country. He uses their money to live his lifestyle making the believe one day they will become a paramilitary organization.

It may interest you to know that Nigeria as a country has been borrowing money to pay salaries since 2010 so we cannot afford to have another establishment where will the budget come from? Where will the country get funds to pay his so called paramilitary agency.

The National Assembly passed his bill cause they were probably promised jobs for their constituents. But the president acted upon the resources available in the country and also looking at what it stands for it’s not a Nigeria program.

Finally if the National Assembly goes ahead to veto the Peace-Corps against the executive’s will. The president will not appoint any head of the agency will obviously he will also use his powers under section 171 of the constitution and not appoint anyone into the Corp. with no appointment and no approved recruitment, it will never take off.

I will end the note by telling Nigerian youths that Peace-Corps is a total scam by Dickson and his cohorts and also note that Dickson currently is facing charges of crimes which him and his syndicates collected funds from vulnerable young Nigerian in the name of employment.