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A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Reform Committee, Dr. Joe Abah, has explained why the panel rejected proposals to make national service optional and to introduce mandatory full military training for all corps members.
Abah’s clarification came after a critic, Muyiwa Saka, accused the committee of dismissing the idea of an optional scheme.
Saka wrote on X: “My main clue that Dr Joe got that reform madly wrong was that retort about zero possibility of national service being optional… The refusal to explore that option just suggested it as an academic effort that satisfied everyone except the corpers involved.”
Responding, Abah said the committee did consider the option but turned it down on principle.
“Actually, the committee considered that option and rejected it on the basis that it should not be optional whether or not you serve your country,” he said.
“We also considered the option of mandatory full military service and asked ourselves whether we wanted 500,000 people trained in weapons handling every year, which the military cannot absorb. We rejected that option too, before we end up with NYSC-military-trained non-state actors on top of all the armed non-state actors we currently have.”
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He added: “Of course, you can have a contrary view. It doesn’t mean that those that don’t share your view are ‘madly wrong’.”
The Federal Government inaugurated the NYSC Reform Committee in 2025 to review the 53-year-old scheme and align it with current youth and national development needs.
The committee’s mandate included reviewing policy and legal frameworks, stakeholder consultations, and recommending amendments to the NYSC Act.
The Federal Executive Council recently approved a major overhaul of the scheme, including a six-week orientation curriculum, 11 specialised career streams, and a shift to civilian leadership.
President Bola Tinubu said the reforms would make the NYSC “safer” through risk-based deployment and ensure “every corps member must leave NYSC better prepared for work, enterprise and national service”.
