NYSC ejects corps member from camp over refusal to wear trousers

By SEYE OJO

One of the corps members posted to Ogun State, Miss Tolulope Ekundayo, a graduate of the Lagos State University (LASU), has been decamped by the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) over her refusal to wear trousers at the orientation camp in Ogun State. Tolulope, who reported to the camp in Shagamu on Tuesday, March 5, in her khaki skirts, was said to have been shown the way out of the camp last Friday at about 11:00 pm Tolulope told newsmen in Lagos yesterday that wearing of trousers negated her Christian belief and values.

While saying she did not condemn anybody wearing trousers, she asserted that her resolve not to wear it stemmed from a personal conviction and the fact that she was a missionary. “When I was 10 years old, I had a dream. In the dream, an old man appeared to me and told me to read Deuteronomy 22:5. The old man told me to observe what is there. Then, I have not memorised what the verse says. When I woke up, I went for a Holy Bible.

I opened to Deuteronomy 22:5 and the instruction is that I must not wear clothes pertaining to men. “Before I had the dream, I have never worn trousers and after the dream up till now. I have not worn trousers. I explained everything to the leadership of the NYSC but they said the penalty for not wearing the khaki trouser is decampment. “I faced a panel and I was directed to submit all the kits that were given to me at the camp, which I did. I was also ordered to go to the account unit and refund the N2, 500 transportation and bicycle allowances I was paid on the camp and I did so.

All these happened on the same Friday that I was ordered to leave the camp. “I want to serve my father land and if NYSC will allow me to wear skirt on the camp, I am ready to return to the orientation camp. My khaki and white skirts were made in such a way that they did not give me any problem. I was in Platoon Four and I participated actively in all the exercises from Tuesday to the Friday that I was thrown out of the camp,” Tolulope said.

When contacted on phone yesterday evening, the Head/Press and Public Relations Unit of NYSC in Ogun State, Mrs. Tarkighir Diana, told Daily Sun that Tolulope Ekundayo signed an undertaking during her registration on the camp, which she later disobeyed. She requested for the email address of this reporter so that she could send details of the issue. But the details did not come as at press time. At a press conference addressed by the General Overseer, Faith Revival Apostolic Church (FRAC) and President, Apostle Paul Gospel Outreach (APGO),

Apostle Paul Taiwo Adenuga in Lagos yesterday, he lamented that a lot of Nigerians were being forced to do things they did not want to do, adding: “For anyone who wants to put on the trousers, she should be allowed and for those who feel it is indecent dressing, they should be allowed to put on skirts. According to him, “The issue of dressing in a man’s attire is forbidden to the Christian girls, ladies and women. God created them ‘he and she’ and places a gender distinction between them and forbids them not to be adorned in men’s attires.

“Even in regimented environments such as the Nigeria Police and Nigerian Air Force, women are given option of dressing in shirt as their religious belief permits. In the airline operations, ladies are permitted to dress in skirt.” A lawyer, Mr. Sunday Fatade, described the decampment of Tolulope from the Shagamu NYSC orientation camp as an unconstitutional act. He disclosed that the national headquarters of the NYSC would be officially informed about the decampment of Tolulope Ekundayo in the first instance for her to get justice.