The Nigerian Government has approved a far-reaching reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), retaining the scheme’s one-year service period while introducing skills acquisition, digital transformation, and other strategic initiatives designed to align the programme with contemporary national development priorities.
The approval was granted on Monday during the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, the Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, described the initiative as the most comprehensive review of the NYSC since its establishment in 1973.
He explained that the reform framework emerged from extensive consultations involving the Ministries of Youth Development and Education, the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, and young Nigerians, with the objective of repositioning the scheme as a stronger platform for youth empowerment, skills development, and national integration.
The minister said the reforms are designed to strengthen national unity, promote skills development, create jobs and empower young people.
Key components of the reform include the digitalisation of NYSC operations, enhanced security and welfare for corps members, improved orientation camp facilities through stronger partnerships with state governments, redesigning the passing-out parade into a formal graduation ceremony, introducing professional identity certification for corps members, and amending the NYSC Act to align the scheme with current national development priorities.
Also briefing State House Correspondents, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, said the approved reforms would preserve the NYSC’s one-year service period while introducing flexible, competency-based training programmes to better equip corps members with relevant skills during their service year.
She explained that participants in specialised streams, including the proposed Digital Corps, may undergo extended training before deployment to their places of primary assignment to earn professional certifications that enhance their employability, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance.
Usman said the NYSC would continue to operate as a civilian-led scheme, while the Nigerian military would retain responsibility for ensuring the security of corps members nationwide. She added that the reforms are designed to consolidate youth development initiatives under the NYSC to strengthen coordination, monitoring, and accountability, while expanding opportunities for graduates, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), to acquire globally competitive skills that support national development.
She further disclosed that the Federal Executive Council directed the Attorney-General of the Federation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development, to amend the NYSC Act and its relevant regulations to provide the necessary legal framework for the immediate implementation of the approved reforms.
