By Uche Amunike
The Federal government has instructed that members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, should no longer be posted to states that are considered unsafe in the light of the worsening security situation in the country.
Recall that numerous corps members had been reported abducted in some parts of the country during their one year compulsory national service and this has raised concerns about the safety of youth corpers in the scheme, which was originally meant for national integration.
Speaking, Sunday night, during a current affairs program on Channels TV, the Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Ibrahim Bio, made this disclosure. She stated that the NYSC Scheme has taken measures to ensure the safety of these youth corpers. One of such measures, is to immediately stop posting them to areas that are confirmed to be unsafe and have them posted to safe territories.
Hear her: ‘As an immediate intervention of the government and the NYSC as an agency, we have actually stopped posting corps members to the very unsafe states,’ the Minister said.
‘We have been doing it in the past. There are states we have not been posting corps members to, to ensure their safety.’
She also stated that the security of all members need collaboration with other agencies of government as the NYSC cannot do it alone. Her words ‘When it comes to security matters, it is a multi-sectoral approach. So, it is not the NYSC alone and the ministry that is involved. We are working with security outlets to ensure corps members are safe.’
‘We are also working on group transportation strategies for them to ensure that they are transported to and from camps safely and to their destinations’, she said.
She averred that the federal government is currently working out modalities that will reform the NYSC system in a way that it will showcase the present realities of the nation, especially in the area of their allowance.
Hear her: ‘When it comes to remuneration, we are looking at the holistic funding of the NYSC. You are all aware that we have announced a reform of the NYSC scheme itself. We want the scheme to go beyond being a social programme of the government to be that revenue-generating scheme and agency.’
‘The reforms will actually transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and prepare corps members for the job market and to be decently and gainfully employed, or to be employers of labour through entrepreneurship and of course, perfect matching into primary assignments and all the support they need in that career path’, the Minister added.
In response to the question concerning if the federal government had any plans to increase the monthly allowance of corps members, she replied: ‘We all understand that resources are dwindling. Even oil revenues are not as they used to be. But we will find innovative ways of assuring that all members’ welfare is well taken care of.
