FG will transform NYSC into a revenue-generating agency — Minister

…NYSC takes action to protect corps members, suspends posting to insecure states

By Sodiq Adelakun

The federal government has announced plans to reform the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in order to turn it into a revenue-generating agency.

The Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, made this announcement in an broadcast interview on Sunday.

The minister stated that the government is working on reforming the NYSC scheme to align with the current realities of the nation.

Bio-Ibrahim further explained that the government recognises the dwindling resources and emphasised the need to find innovative ways to ensure the welfare of corps members.

She stated that the reforms will transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and equip corps members with the necessary skills to enter the job market or become employers through entrepreneurship.

In addition, the minister revealed that corps members will no longer be posted to states that are considered unsafe due to the worsening insecurity in the country.

According to her, “The reforms will transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and prepare the corps members for the job market and to be decently and gainfully employed or to be employers of labour through entrepreneurship all the support they need in that career path.”

She also disclosed that corps members were no longer posted to states deemed unsafe in the wake of worsening insecurity in the country.

The Minister explained that the security of corps members required collaboration with other agencies of government.

In the same vein, NYSC said the scheme has stopped posting corps members to states deemed unsafe as a result of the worsening security conditions in the country.

Recall that several corps members have been abducted in some parts of the country during their one-year mandatory national service, raising fears about the sustainability of the scheme.

But the Minister of Youth Development said the scheme has taken steps to secure NYSC members including posting them only to safe states.

She said, “As an immediate intervention of the government and the NYSC as an agency, we have actually stopped posting corps members to the very unsafe states.

“We have been doing it. We have been doing it in the past. There are states we have not been posting corps members to to ensure their safety,” she added.

According to her, the security of corps members requires collaboration with other government agencies.

The minister said, “When it comes to security matters, it is a multi-sectoral approach. So, it is not the NYSC alone and the ministry that is involved. We are working with security outlets to ensure corps members are safe.

“We are also working on group transportation strategies for them to ensure that they are transported to and from camps safely and to their destinations.”

The minister said the Federal Government is working on reforming the NYSC scheme to reflect the present realities of the nation, particularly in the area of their allowance.

Ibrahim said, “When it comes to remuneration, we are looking at the holistic funding of the NYSC. You are all aware that we have announced a reform of the NYSC scheme itself. We want the scheme to go beyond being a social programme of the government.”