The future of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) monthly allowance, popularly known as “Alawee,” remains uncertain, according to Minister of Youth Development Bio-Ibrahim Jamila.

Jamila said that the government is shifting gears, aiming to transform the NYSC from a social programme of the government into a “revenue-generating agency.”

The minister’s statement comes amidst calls for an increase in NYSC allowance, particularly after the inauguration of a minimum wage committee by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed a new minimum wage bill and increased workers minimum wage from N19,000 to N33,000 in January 2020. However, inflation and living costs have risen significantly since then, prompting calls for a review.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Jamila expressed concern about rising inflation and living costs but made no specific promises. 

“We can’t say for sure; we all understand that resources are dwindling; even oil revenues are not as they used to be but we will find innovative ways of ensuring that corps members’ welfare are well-taken of,” Bio-Ibrahim said.

Instead of a salary increase, she proposed “innovative ways” to address corps members’ welfare, stating that reforms aimed at transforming the NYSC scheme into a “revenue-generating agency,” potentially offering corps members alternative financial benefits.

“When it comes to remuneration and looking totally at the holistic funding of the NYSC, we have announced a reform of the NYSC scheme itself. So, we want the scheme to go beyond that social programme of government to be that revenue-generating scheme and agency,” she noted.

This reform, according to the minister, would equip corps members with job-market skills and entrepreneurial opportunities and better match their chosen career paths. 

The minister also disclosed that the federal government halted NYSC deployments in “unsafe states” following a series of abductions targeting corps members during their mandatory service.

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

Ensuring corps members’ safety, she added, necessitates collaboration with other government agencies, citing a “multi-sectoral approach” that includes security agencies. 

“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,” Jamila said.