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President Bola Tinubu has announced that the ongoing reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will introduce security risk assessments as a key factor in deploying corps members to states across the country.
The President said postings would be guided by security considerations to better protect corps members, particularly in states facing security challenges.
Tinubu also reaffirmed that the NYSC would be headed by a civilian director-general, ending the longstanding practice of appointing military officers to lead the scheme.
He added that the orientation course would be extended to six weeks, with the revamped programme designed to equip every corps member with stronger workplace, entrepreneurial and national service skills before completing the scheme.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, and Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, had after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting on Monday briefed journalists on the approved consequential reforms of NYSC scheme, established in 1973.
President Tinubu, on X account, Bola Ahmed Tinubu @ABAT, yesterday, said his administration was strengthening governance, standards and the dignity of the NYSC scheme.
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He wrote: “On Monday, at the Federal Executive Council, our administration approved the most consequential reforms of the National Youth Service Scheme since its establishment in 1973.
“On the day I was sworn in as your President, I promised to create meaningful opportunities for our young people. I said women and youth would feature prominently in our administration, and this reform is partly the actualisation of that promise.
“For 53 years, the NYSC has served the cause of national unity. That mission remains important and must be preserved. But the Nigeria of today demands more. 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.
“On the reasons for the sweeping reforms, he wrote: “We are repositioning the NYSC from a mobilisation scheme into a national development platform for skills, employability, productivity and enterprise.
“The NYSC orientation programme will now become a six-week journey. It will begin with civic responsibility, leadership, values and personal development. It will then move into career readiness, entrepreneurship, digital and financial skills. Finally, corps members will receive specialised training aligned with their academic background and career pathway.
“These streams will include agriculture, health, education, technology, law, public service, infrastructure, green economy, enterprise, creative economy, and para-military/security service.”
