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Concerned Nigerian parent, financial management consultant and business risk adviser, Mr. Akuh Benard Sule, has called for a comprehensive reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), arguing that the scheme, established more than five decades ago to promote national unity, requires a new model that reflects Nigeria’s present realities.
Sule, who is a former banker with over 25 years working experience in the banking industry, in a statement, at the weekend, said the NYSC had served an important purpose since its establishment in 1973 but argued that the scheme had reached a point where its structure and effectiveness should be critically reviewed.
“Every product has its life cycle; introduction, growth, maturity, decline and death,” Sule said. “NYSC was introduced in 1973 for national unity after the civil war. It grew. It matured. Today, it has declined and needs honest review.”
He said the debate should no longer centre on whether NYSC has challenges but on whether the current compulsory posting model remains the most effective way to achieve national integration and youth development.
“The question is no longer whether NYSC has problems,” Sule said. “The question is why we keep a product that the market has rejected.
Sule’s call for reform was partly driven by concerns over the safety of corps members, particularly those travelling to orientation camps and Places of Primary Assignment.
He cited reports published by several media organisations alleging that corps members have been victims of kidnapping and other security incidents while travelling during their service year.
Referring to reports from August 2026 concerning corps members deployed from Bayelsa State who, were allegedly kidnapped in Kogi State, Sule said such incidents should compel policymakers to reassess the existing system.
“These are not rumours. They were reported,” he said.
He also recalled earlier reports of corps members being abducted while travelling to orientation camps and places of deployment.
According to him, the safety of young Nigerians participating in national service should remain a primary consideration in determining whether the existing deployment structure is still appropriate.
Sule also raised questions about government expenditure on the NYSC programme.
He cited a 2025 Federal Government allocation of N430.7 billion to NYSC, with N372.9 billion reportedly earmarked for corps members’ allowances.
“Yet we still receive reports of overcrowded orientation camps, cases of belongings being lost inside camp fences, and corps members being rejected at their Places of Primary Assignment with officials saying, ‘we did not request for you,’” he said.
Sule said the size of public expenditure on the scheme makes it necessary to examine whether the programme is delivering sufficient value to corps members and the country.
“For me, the issue is not simply how much government spends,” he said. “The question is whether the money is producing the intended social and economic benefits.”
The concerned parent also raised concerns about the difficulties some corps members reportedly encounter when seeking redeployment.
He alleged that the gap between posting and redeployment processes could create opportunities for unofficial payments and other practices.
“The system itself creates this market,” Sule said. “Official redeployment takes months. Posting takes days. When there is no fast, transparent legal alternative, desperation sets in.”
He further alleged that some parents seek redeployment through different means because of concerns about the welfare and security of their children.
“Some reportedly seek redeployment on health grounds at all costs. Others reportedly pay again to collect discharge certificates,” he said.
Sule also referred to the alleged experience of a young woman serving in a school who, according to him, had to forfeit her monthly allowance to her principal in order to obtain time to learn a vocational skill.
“These reported practices show parents and corps members are not beneficiaries of corruption; they are victims paying twice for a service their taxes already funded,” he said.
Rather than simply scrapping the NYSC, Sule proposed that the Federal Government and the National Assembly consider replacing the existing compulsory posting model with a voluntary, zonal and skills-based youth service programme.
“I am therefore calling on the National Assembly to review the NYSC Act and replace the current compulsory posting model with a voluntary, zonal, skill-based youth service,” he said.
He proposed that young Nigerians should be able to choose areas of training based on their interests and the needs of the economy.
“Let a youth choose to learn farming, coding, fashion, or solar installation for one year, with support from that same budget,” Sule said.
He argued that redirecting resources towards practical skills could help young Nigerians acquire competencies capable of improving their employment and entrepreneurial prospects.
“Let that same budget build a nation through skills, not just khaki and parade,” he added.
Sule also questioned whether the original national-integration argument for NYSC remains sufficient to justify the existing structure.
The scheme was established in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War, with national unity and reconciliation among its central objectives.
But Sule argued that Nigeria’s social environment has changed considerably since the 1970s, particularly with the emergence of social media and digital communication.
“If Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok, which connect a boy in Sokoto with a girl in Aba every minute, have not fully united Nigeria, can 21 days in an overcrowded camp achieve that unity in 2026?” he asked.
He said national service should evolve alongside the country and should place greater emphasis on skills acquisition, economic empowerment and meaningful community development.
Sule maintained that his proposal should be viewed as a call for reform rather than an attack on the historical role played by NYSC.
“Every product has its life cycle. No company keeps a dead product on the shelf because of sentiment,” he said.
He urged lawmakers, policymakers and Nigerians to have an open discussion about the future of the scheme and whether its current structure remains fit for purpose.
“The product has expired. Let us reform it,” Sule said.
