National Youth Service Scheme....Evolve or Go Extinct

The National Youth Service Corp was established in 1973 by then Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowan as a mandatory, post tertiary education scheme for every Nigerian student lasting the duration of one year.

The Youth Service Programme was introduced after the destructive and divisive civil war as a means of fostering unity and reconciliation in the nation. It was uniquely structured to expose Corp members to different parts of the nation, its people, and their cultures while geared towards rebuilding trust and togetherness amongst embittered ethnicities and ultimately bring about healing across a broken country.

The premise of the scheme entailed the deployment of fresh tertiary graduates to a region different from their state of origin and the state their institution was domiciled. Corp members were then expected to go through a rigorous orientation camp for the period of three weeks which follows subsequent attachment to government parastatals for the purpose of “serving the nation”. The Federal Government also generously doled out monthly allowances to serving “corpers” to ensure a comfortable and productive service year for all participants.

Over the years, the National Youth Service Programme proved successful as it gave young nigerians the opportunity to see and experience different sides of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic representations, language, culture, food, and remarkable landmarks. 

Corp members quickly integrated into host communities, even sponsoring social projects for the benefit of the locals. A good number of Corp members also willingly stayed back after their service year elapsed to pursue business or career opportunities in those communities even going on to marry and start families in their host communities.

All this paints the picture of an initiative that bore the desired fruits and should be lauded not critiqued but alas, current realities have proven otherwise and as such there is an unavoidable need to retrace our steps and restructure the scheme for efficiency and secure the well-being of our young people.

The emergence of terrorism and banditry in different geo-political zones of the country has ignited a wave of insecurity and fear never experienced in our dear nation. Unfortunately, a significant number of Corp members have been caught amid this blatant collapse of the nation’s security system. Young, bright-eyed “corpers” with so much excitement and zeal to serve their nation have become victims of the ravaging insecurity in the North and Southern parts of the nation.

In 2020, Bomoi Yusuf was killed by bandits in an attack on over 17 Corp members along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

On August 17, 2023, eight intending National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members were kidnapped in Zamfara State while on their way to Sokoto State for their deployment.

July 18, 2024, 5 Ondo state Corp members were abducted by bandits on their way to Enugu state with a ransom of 15m demanded.

These reports are just a fraction of the widespread violence and threat to life that Corp members have endured for a few years all in pursuit of a discharge certificate from NYSC.

The President and security chiefs continually assure the populace of an end to the incessant attack on innocent citizens but it has become glaring that with growing polarity amongst ethnic groups and rising threats of insecurity, the National Youth Service needs an immediate revamp with the safety of tertiary graduates in perspective and for a more efficient system that can boost the nation’s productivity, reduce the growing unemployment crisis and spur SME growth across the land.

For clarity, this piece is not a call to scrap the Youth Service Programme like a few might clamor for but to fix the malign of the current system and upend the status quo. Parents and guardians no longer find comfort in their children or wards risking their lives and freedom just to be a part of the Youth Service Scheme. A rising number of fresh graduates are rejecting or deferring NYSC call-ups to these unsafe states.

This all points to the fact that the current system is no longer a viable and safe one, and something critical and timely must be done.

The Federal Government and NYSC administration need to shutdown deployment to these “hot zones” until a level of safety can be attained. General Gowon’s desire to unite the nation via this Youth Service initiative must be shelved and the safety of Nigerians must be prioritized. Potential Corp members should only be posted to regions without ethic crisis or security challenges.

In recent times, the government mandated that Corp members are to be deployed majorly to schools in teaching roles or to state agricultural and medical parastatals. This decision wasn’t a well thought out one as it mandated Corpers with no teaching training or experience to be tasked with the education of our future generation especially in rural areas. This has led to not only an adverse impact on the quality of education in those catchment areas but also an underutilization of the Corp members who spend one year engaged in classrooms they have no business being in and with no value being added to them in turn.

A more strategic approach will be to increase the duration of the orientation camp to four (4) weeks centering around light military and discipline training to detailed entrepreneurship and vocational training. The goal will be to ensure every Corp member learns applicable skills in various fields like IT, Agriculture, Fashion, Arts & Crafts etc.

At the culmination of the skill acquisition training, the yearly stipend for each Corp member is paid in lump sum as a government grant/support towards entrepreneurship and driving the growth of small businesses in the country. This direction speaks more to the current realities of the nation and will be a more instrumental approach towards addressing the challenges of the dwindling employment rate we currently face.

The National Youth Service Scheme is one in dire need of evolution and restructuring as we can no longer ignore the security or economic challenges in the nation. We must realign this institution to for efficiency, nation building and the development of our greatest treasure which is our Youth.