PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has said that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will prioritise indigenes, residents and graduates of institutions in states considered high-risk during deployment, as part of reforms aimed at strengthening the scheme.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on Monday, June29, approved far-reaching reforms bid to strengthen its efficiency, which Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, listed to include retention of the one‑year duration, digitalisation and change of leadership structure from military to civilians; a redesigned NYSC uniform, among others.
The President, in a statement on his X handle on Wednesday, July 1, explained that his administration was reforming the scheme to make it safer and smarter for graduates, with deployment to security-challenged states now be guided by risk assessment.
According to him: “Deployment to security-challenged states will be guided by risk assessment. It will prioritise indigenes, residents, graduates of institutions in those states and those from neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zones.”
Describing the new reforms as the most consequential overhaul of the scheme since its establishment in 1973, he noted: “For 53 years, the NYSC has served the cause of national unity. That mission remains important and must be preserved.
“Our young people are nearly 70 per cent of our population. They are not a burden to be managed; they are the engine of the one-trillion-dollar economy we are building and the hope of this nation.
“We are repositioning the NYSC from a mobilisation scheme into a national development platform for skills, employability, productivity and enterprise.”
Tinubu stated that every corps member must leave NYSC better prepared for work, enterprise and national service, adding: “Our administration is also strengthening governance, standards and the dignity of the NYSC scheme.”
He reiterated that the scheme will be led by a civilian director general, supported by three executive directors, including a security services executive director, who will be a military or paramilitary officer, saying: “Orientation camps will be assessed under a national grading and certification framework, while states will be expected to meet minimum standards.
“The Passing-Out Parade will become a Graduation Ceremony, because our corps members will no longer merely complete service; they will graduate as trained civic and professional contributors to national development.”
He lauded stakeholders involved in the reform process and directed the Ministry of Youth Development and Ministry of Justice to begin the process of amending the NYSC Act and related regulations.
Under the proposed reforms, there will be 11 specialised streams for corps members and a six-week camp arrangement.
