Analysis of Corpers Perception and Attitude towards Community Development Service of the Nigeria NYSC in Abia State

The need for corp members’ absolute commitment to Community Development Service (CDS) of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) is of immense importance. This study assessed corp members’ perception and attitude towards community development service of the Nigeria NYSC in Abia State, Nigeria. Structured and unstructured instruments were administered to 117 randomly selected corp members in the state. Data collected were analyzed using percentage, frequency and mean. Findings of the study revealed that more (49.52%) of the respondents were of western origin, female respondents were of majority (54.70%) and 41.88% of the respondents had a university degree and 35.89% had polytechnics awards. Corp members perceived that CDS is not effective due to the fact that there is no fund allocated to it by the NYSC scheme (mean score 3.22) and that they see it as a waste of time and energy (mean score 3.16). Constraints to the smooth operation of the community development service were inadequate sensitization on CDS operation/functions (mean 3.02), problem of CDS leadership (mean 3.09), lack of CDS operational funds (mean 3.22), fear of area boys attack/kidnapping (mean 2.87). The findings revealed that corp members were not effective because they disliked their CDS group (mean 2.90).