Education
Sports minister says Nigeria is committed to sustaining the National Youth Service Corps amid calls for the scheme to be scrapped
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, says the Federal Government is committed to sustaining the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), amid calls for the scheme to be scrapped.
Dare made the assertion in a tweet on his handle on Wednesday morning, praising the NYSC for its contribution to national development.
“The NYSC scheme remains one of the greatest tools for National development for our youth,” the minister explained. “The commitment of the government to sustaining the NYSC scheme remains. Dynamic Reforms and Initiatives towards current realities are ongoing. Nigeria will stand with her youth.”
During a plenary session on Monday, Abiante who represents Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency decried that several reform efforts have also not yielded desired results.
He argued that the NYSC has continued to be a drain on the nation’s scarce resources and exposed families to several nightmares, and even the loss of loved ones after so much investment.
“Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps Management now give considerations to posting corps members to their geo-political zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration,” the lawmaker said.
“Many corps members are being used by their employers for jobs that have no bearing on the skills acquired at institutions of higher learning, thus making them unemployable after their service year.”
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a program set up by the Nigerian government to involve Nigerian graduates in nation building and the development of the country.
There is no military conscription in Nigeria, but since 1973 graduates of universities and later polytechnics have been required to take part in the National Youth Service Corps program for one year – his is known as national service year.
NYSC was created on 22 May 1973 as an avenue for the reconciliation, reconstruction, and rebuilding of the nation after the civil war. It was established based on decree No. 24 that stated that the scheme was created “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity“.
