Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Sports and Youth Development has recommended an increase in the allocation of daily feeding allowance of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC members from its current =N=600 per person to =N=1, 000.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Obinna Ogba, made the appeal on Tuesday while presenting his report of the 2022 budget to the Committee on Appropriations.
The Senate Committee on Interior had on October 27, 2021, increased the daily feeding allowance of the Nigerian Correctional Service, from its current =N=450 per person to a minimum of =N=1, 000.
On the need for increase, Senator Ogba said it was appalling that the prisoners’ ration was going to be higher than the NYSC members, who are serving the nation.
“It’s appalling that prisoners who have committed crimes are going to enjoy more than the youth corps members who are serving the country.
“You and I will agree that this is not the right thing. I’m only appealing to the executive and the legislature to do something about the youth corps members by increasing their daily feeding allowance and the quality of their uniform,” he stressed.
Senator Ogba also lamented that the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Youths and Sports which is put at =N=5 billion for capital expenditure in the 2022 budget was grossly inadequate.
“Something needs to be done, because the budget cannot take both the ministry and the youths anywhere,” he declared.
In the same vein, a member of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, also said increasing the feeding cost of NYSC members has become necessary for them to be patriotic.
He said “If the corps members are not well fed, it will be difficult for them to be patriotic.”
It would be recalled that the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim had called for increased feeding allowance for corps members in the scheme’s 2022 budget.
Dominica Nwabufo
