NYSC Extension Sparks Debate: Why Experts and Stakeholders Are Not on the Same Page
For FG, the financial strain might be too much. Economists
“It will clash with other plans that corps members have for themselves in two years.”
The plan is no longer useful in its current form, according to Ibidapo.
In this article, Benjamin Samson discusses the program’s ramifications with stakeholders over the planned one- to two-year extension of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
Last Monday, Olatunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, demanded that the mandated National Youth Service Corps program be extended from one to two years.
When NYSC Director-General Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu paid him a courtesy call at his Abuja headquarters, Alausa made the call.
The minister further demanded that the substance of the corps members’ Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training Program be expanded, according to a statement that was shared on NYSC’s official Facebook page.
“With the expansion of NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training program content for corps members, the minister also advocated for the extension of national service from one to two years,” the statement said in part.
Additionally, the minister said that “this would fill the manpower gap in the schools” by sending more graduate teachers to work in rural schools.
In order to stop certificate racketeering by certain foreign-trained graduates in West Africa, he praised NYSC’s management for their proactive and digitalized mobilization efforts.
Nigerians have responded to the minister’s idea in a variety of ways. Others argued the initiative is better regarded as dead on arrival, while others voiced support for the notion.
Expert opinions
Yakubu Odekina, a professor of sociology who was one of the first corps members sent at the scheme’s commencement, told this reporter that he supports the proposed extension of the program.
The NYSC program is a “national heritage and a symbol of Nigeria’s unity,” according to Odekina. He went on to say that the NYSC program should be safeguarded and maintained since it was achieving its goal of fostering national unity among Nigerians.
Nothing should interfere with the NYSC scheme’s ability to carry out its mandate; on the contrary, it has to be closely protected.
The program was established with the goal of promoting harmony among Nigeria’s ethnic groups, and it has been largely successful in doing so.
“I will not in any way advocate for its elimination because, in addition to fostering unity, it also facilitates youth travel throughout the nation.
Without the plan, some of the young people wouldn’t have had the chance to visit those locations. More significantly, though, it gives young people from all over the nation a chance to connect,” he stated.
He went on to say, “The government should examine the issues the project is facing, such as insecurity, rather than abandoning it. The government may also consider reorganizing the program to improve coordination and efficiency; it might be transformed into a youth skills training facility.
“The safety of the corps members should come first; thus, members who are uncomfortable in certain areas of the country for security reasons shouldn’t be made to go there.
The model
Similarly, Dr. Dorothy Osamor, an expert in corporate governance, entrepreneurship, education, and innovative business, stated that the program has turned into a template for other African nations.
“It’s interesting that some people are calling for the program to be discontinued, even though the minister is supporting an extension of the service year,” she said. They consider it to be a complete waste of time. Since some corps members were kidnapped during their service year, insecurity has made this call even more urgent.
Additionally, concerns have been raised regarding the inadequate facilities at numerous orientation camps and the poor treatment of corps members by certain companies throughout the service year. However, I still believe that these minor issues are insufficient to justify abandoning the plan.
After all, despite the admirable intentions of many ideas, it is claimed that life is a unity of opposites and that difficulties, problems, and tribulations will always arise. The Gambian administration has replicated the plan in The Gambia, in case you were unaware.
The problem is that the annual mobilization of a large number of graduates for the military necessitates a significant financial investment, which the federal government may not be able to cover on its own. To help other levels of government, the corporate sector, and civic-minded Nigerians contribute to the scheme’s finances, I am putting forward the NYSC Trust Fund.
Similarly, Dr. Issa Okaba, a lecturer in Kogi State University’s sociology department, told this reporter that he supports the scheme’s planned extension since it has promoted national integration.
He stated, “It was created in 1973 by Decree No. 24 by the then-head of state, Yakubu Gowon, when national unity was a top priority. Its goals were to assist in the reconstruction, reconciliation, and reintegration of the nation following the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970).” Through the year-long mandatory duty, the goal was to develop a culture of national service among the young people who were graduating from higher education.
They would have the chance to get to know the nation better and engage with communities and ethnic groups outside of their home states, which would promote national integration. They were also expected to use their abilities in such communities. In order to assist in providing desperately needed infrastructure and basic services in the rural areas, the community service component of their service was judged crucial.
“Over the years, corps members have served as doctors and other medical professionals, teachers, engineers, and social workers in situations where these skills were either unavailable or in short supply,” according to the organization’s defenders and numerous communities across.
“Interethnic marriages occurred, some corps members remained after their year of service, and for Gowon and its supporters like me, the objective of national unity remains on course.”
Implications for costs
Uche Anyadike, an economist, encouraged the federal government to take into account the proposal’s social and economic effects on the country and the recent graduates.
According to him, the latest N77,000 payment to active corps members from N33,000 has significant financial ramifications for the scheme’s budgetary requirements.
“The financial burden may be too much for the federal government to bear; the federal government may be spending close to N310 billion for mobilization and allowances due to corps members,” he said.
“The mobilization of at least 350,000 corps members annually will imply humongous financial backing for the scheme to meet its obligations to corps members and other sundry programs organized by the NYSC,” Onyedike stated. “The NYSC was allocated N430.7 billion in the 2025 budget presentation by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly in December 2024, with approximately N372.9 billion, or 86.5 percent, of the total allocation reserved for the payment of corps members’ allowances. I do not see the feasibility of the extension from one year to two. Economically, it will choke the federal government amid the dire economic situation in the nation.”
According to Yusuf Babatunde, a youth advocate, several young Nigerians who are enlisted in the national service have always thought of the endeavor as a waste of time once they graduate.
One year is now a waste of time, according to even the corps members. Their other ambitions will clash with their two years of national duty. The amount of work required to manage this is too great for a single year, let alone two. The national budget will be affected,” he stated.
Proponents may contend that two years would strengthen national unity, which was NYSC’s original goal, but I consider this to be “tales by moonlight,” he continued.
“Decades of sending Yoruba corps members to the Niger Delta and Hausa graduates to Igbo territory haven’t done anything to ease tensions between the ethnic groups. Young Nigerians and probably corps members spearheaded the 2020 #EndSARS demonstrations, revealing a generation more bound by shared annoyance than by campfires in Sokoto or Enugu. Corps members assigned to bandit-ravaged Zamfara may have to endure more risks for a longer period of time; thus, extending the program won’t close the gap but would instead worsen it.
Furthermore, equal opportunity rather than forced labor is the means by which unity can be attained. Vocational centers or tech centers might be funded by the government’s annual NYSC budget, or even better, graduates could be paid right away after completing their college education. Instead of placing optimism in a dwindling 1970s idealism, these are more concrete,” he added.
Changes
Dr. Olu Ibidapo, a social analyst, also stated that he calls for reform of the system but is neither in favor of its continuation nor abandonment.
Some corps members spend the majority of their service years—or sometimes the entire year—without an employer willing to take them on for their primary job, he added. Since then, university and polytechnic graduates over 30 years old, as well as graduates of education colleges, have been exempt.
“The state of Nigeria has changed. New frontiers, new problems, and new requirements have emerged. In its current form, the NYSC is no longer useful. The decree of national unity is no longer relevant due to developments in communication, social and economic mobility, and increased access to education.
Additionally, the children of Nigeria and their parents/guardians are bearing a great burden in order to maintain the antiquated program. Numerous people have lost their lives while traveling to and from their places of service on the nation’s crumbling highways. Others have experienced murders, abuse, and violence. Approximately 21 instances of non-state actors attacking corps members while they were carrying out their legal responsibilities were documented during the most recent election cycle.
“Mobs killed around 800 persons in many northern states during the disturbances that followed the 2011 presidential elections, including corps members who were specifically targeted because they were not indigenous.
“Realism should always serve as the foundation for national policy, and as needed, they should be logically examined. Given the current situation, the NYSC must now be entirely voluntary. Volunteers should be recruited in batches of no more than 25,000–30,000 each year.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry states that 2,500 volunteers have been sent through Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps program, which is voluntary and well-received throughout Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. The program runs from 2015 until 2023.
According to its website, “The United States Peace Corps program has benefited many developing nations over the past 62 years; it is voluntary. A peak of 15,556 American youths deployed in 52 countries in 1966 was followed by 8,500 volunteers serving in 77 countries by its 50th anniversary in 2011, and it now only deploys between 3,500 and 4,000 annually due to new realities and funding cuts.”
From now on, the NYSC should focus on participants who have particular expertise and align with the areas of need that the federal and state governments have indicated when they are seeking their services. Only states that request it should receive teachers, physicians, engineers, and other interested graduates in technical and scientific subjects. These states have to consent to make the bare minimum of accommodations, generous allowances, and transportation. Effective measures must be taken to ensure their safety.
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