…say reforms that will multiply Scheme’s annual running cost to over N1tr unnecessary this time —RNC
The Association of Former Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to urgently increase funding for the National Youth Service Corps and rehabilitate its orientation camps across the country.
The groups, operating under the auspices of the Reform NYSC Campaign (RNC), said improved funding and the comprehensive rehabilitation and upgrading of NYSC orientation camps should constitute the immediate priorities of government if the Scheme must continue to deliver effectively on its mandate of youth development, national integration and peaceful coexistence.
In a statement jointly signed by the Coordinator of the Reform NYSC Campaign, Comrade Godsown Aigbe, and its Spokesperson, Princess Mariam Idris, the groups said the welfare and safety of serving corps members must take precedence over what they described as proposed reforms that could impose additional financial burdens on the Federal Government.
According to the RNC, many NYSC orientation camps across the country are in urgent need of rehabilitation, with some lacking adequate accommodation, water supply, healthcare facilities, sanitation, recreational infrastructure and other basic amenities required to provide corps members with a safe and conducive environment during the orientation programme.
The groups therefore urged the Federal Government to embark on a comprehensive assessment of all NYSC orientation camps and develop a phased rehabilitation programme that would bring the facilities up to acceptable national standards.
They also called for improved annual budgetary provisions for the Scheme to enable the NYSC management to meet its responsibilities to corps members, particularly in the areas of allowances, insurance, healthcare, transportation, security and general welfare.
The RNC maintained that the NYSC remains one of Nigeria’s most important national integration institutions, bringing young Nigerians from different ethnic, religious and geographical backgrounds together and deploying them to communities outside their states of origin.
The groups said the Federal Government should therefore concentrate on strengthening the existing structure of the Scheme rather than introducing reforms that could significantly increase its annual operating expenditure without adequately addressing its present challenges.
“The immediate reforms required in the NYSC are clear: government must improve funding and rebuild and modernise the orientation camps. These are the pressing issues that directly affect the welfare, safety and experience of corps members”, the groups said.
The statement added: “Any reform that does not address these fundamental challenges but instead creates additional layers of expenditure risks turning the NYSC into an increasingly expensive bureaucracy without necessarily improving its core objectives.”
The former corps members and their civil society partners warned that some of the proposed changes being canvassed could multiply the annual running cost of the Scheme to well over N1 trillion, describing such expenditure as difficult to justify at a time when the country is facing competing developmental needs.
They stressed that this was not a call against reform, but a demand for responsible, sustainable and properly prioritised reform.
“Government should first fix what is broken before creating new structures. There is no wisdom in embarking on expensive reforms and jamborees when existing orientation camps require urgent attention and corps members continue to face basic welfare challenges,” the RNC said.
The groups further appealed to the National Assembly to strengthen its oversight of NYSC funding and ensure that appropriations to the Scheme are adequately implemented.
They also urged state governments, corporate organisations and development partners to explore public-private partnerships with the NYSC for the rehabilitation of camps and provision of critical infrastructure.
The RNC reaffirmed its support for the continued existence and strengthening of the NYSC, saying the Scheme remains a vital instrument for promoting national unity, civic responsibility, cultural exchange and peaceful coexistence among Nigerian youths.
It called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government to make the welfare of corps members and the rehabilitation of NYSC infrastructure a priority in the ongoing efforts to reform and reposition the Scheme.