BEVERLY HILLS, May 26, (THEWILL) – 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 comment 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 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,” the tweet read.
The NYSC scheme is a mandatory one-year national service for Nigerian graduates who bagged their first degree before turning 30. It was created on 22nd May 1973 to foster national unity following the Civil War.
Calls for the killing of the scheme recently gained momentum following a Federal lawmaker’s sponsorship of a Bill to repeal the National Youth Service Corps Act.
THEWILL reports that a member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, had said the NYSC programme had failed to address the essence of its establishment after several decades.
During a plenary session on Monday, Abiante who represents Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency decried that several reform efforts had also not yielded desired results.
He argued that the NYSC 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 gives 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 promoting national unity and integration. 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 lawmaker said.
While many shared the lawmaker’s concerns about the scheme, some Nigerians believe it should not be scrapped but made optional and modified to suit the realities of the time.
One such person is Senator Shehu Sani who represented Kaduna Central in the Eighth Senate.
Sani, in a tweet on Monday, said: “The NYSC should not be scrapped. It’s needed now more than ever before. Many Nigerians have never known anywhere other than their hometown and University town if not for NYSC.
“Its mandate should be expanded to give participants full military training in the face of insecurity.
“The NYSC should not be scrapped. Its needed now more than ever before. Many Nigerians have never known anywhere other than their hometown and University town if not for NYSC. Its mandate should be expanded to give participants full military training in the face of insecurity.”
