The recent increment of the monthly allowance of members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) seemingly demonstrates Federal Government’s commitment to prioritising the well-being of serving graduates. While the improved remuneration is commendable, the issues undermining the NYSC scheme go beyond welfare.  

This development has also reignited the debate on the scheme’s relevance to nation-building. Some argued that NYSC has outlived its purpose; others opined that the scheme has failed to fulfill the intended objectives of national unity, integration, and development as Nigeria largely remains a divided developing country. The question, therefore, is whether NYSC is providing significant value to the nation, particularly considering its humongous budgetary allocations.  

The establishment of the NYSC by the government of General Yakubu Gowon in 1973 was partly intended to heal the wounds of the Nigerian civil war, foster national unity among Nigerians, and instill the virtues of patriotism, discipline, self-restraint, good morals, leadership qualities, and teamwork in Nigerian youth.

Recognising the importance of youths to national development and stability, the NYSC is specifically designed as a mandatory post-tertiary programme wherein Nigerian graduates under 30 years are deployed to unfamiliar regions of the country for a period of one year. Any qualified graduate who fails to participate in the programme without official exemption is not employable and cannot seek political office in the country.

Undoubtedly, the ideals of NYSC are lofty; however, the implementation is substantially flawed. Further, the scheme is facing daunting challenges that threaten its continued existence. It grapples with persistent insecurity of corps members, poor infrastructure, corrupt practices such as the rigging of primary assignment posting, negligent deployment of participants (without due consideration of their discipline), poor utilisation of participants, lack of post-service benefits among others.

The government has failed largely to provide adequate security for corps members thereby leaving them at the mercy of fate. Many corps members have been victims of religious, ethnic, or political violence. Some were brutally murdered, maimed, kidnapped, brutalised, harassed, or assaulted in the course of serving the nation. Despite these recurring tragedies, there is still no security mechanism in place to guarantee their safety.

The NYSC deployment policy aims at addressing regional imbalances by equitable distribution of skilled labour across the country. However, managers of the scheme are either unaware of the existence of the policy or simply chose to ignore it for convenience. Sadly, the deployment process has made it substantially transactional – participants with the wherewithal can conveniently influence their posting.

This has led to the heavy concentration of corps members in more commercially viable regions thereby depriving less economically developed zones the opportunity of satisfying their manpower needs. Based on this loophole, some corps members manipulate their deployment to their state of origin or residence. This completely defeats the objective of exposing corps members to the diverse backgrounds, languages, and cultural values of other parts of the country.

As a stakeholder puts it: “NYSC should become the major conveyor belt through which all educated young Nigerians are given the opportunity to first encounter and appreciate formal work, while offering them an opportunity for national service. It should offer scheme participants clearer guidance to enable them to reflect intelligently on their career options.”  

This postulation resonates with one of the scheme’s objectives of offering opportunities for fresh graduates to acquire work-related skills and experience. To this extent, it is expected that there will be continuous vocational training tailored to the educational qualifications of the participants and national needs.  

While professional corps members should be posted to relevant sectors to gain practical skills, others may be deployed to other critical sectors (such as agriculture, manufacturing, etc.) to help build a diverse national economy while acquiring vocational skills.

Regrettably, the scheme is fixated on dispersing most participants to educational institutes. There is little deliberate effort to subject corps members to intensive practical career development. Most of them are posted to organisations not related to their field. This partly explains why many Nigerian graduates are unemployable or lack basic entrepreneurial skills.  

Another fundamental concern of every corps member is what is next after service. The absence of a post-service social security mechanism makes the scheme one-sided in favour of the government. Why must any youth dedicate a year of his life to the service of his fatherland and be left stranded afterward? Will such unfair treatment engender a sense of patriotism in the young generation?

The security and welfare of the people remain the primary responsibility of the government. Consequently, it behooves the government to create an enabling environment for post-service employment or engagement of participants. After all, corps members are conscripted into the NYSC Scheme without their consent.

The government should direct its policy to ensure that every post-NYSC participant is entitled to monthly compensation until gainfully employed or engaged in productive activities. For a country with welfare programmes for “repentant” terrorists and insurgents who wreaked untold havoc on the country and her people, providing post-service benefits to young Nigerians who served the country zealously shouldn’t be not out of place.

No doubt, the NYSC has made some positive impacts as it affords communities that would otherwise have difficulty in accessing mainstream development initiatives a chance to access improved social services through youth service to the community. Nonetheless, its operational deficiencies threaten to eclipse its achievements.

Therefore, “the scheme should be restructured to offer fresh graduates a seamless transition from the world of organised learning to the world of work.” The deployment and utilisation of corps members should strictly reflect the exalted ideals of the scheme henceforth.

The future of any country depends on the youth. Accordingly, the scheme should harness the knowledge and skills of corps members to address the gaps in national development.