NYSC May Soon be Voluntary

If you are still in university, and thoughts of the NYSC this may be good news for you. The NYSC DG, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, told President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, that there were plans to make the scheme voluntary and reduce the corps population to make the programme more sustainable.

This may be good news depending on how you look at it. It means any graduate can get employment immediately after graduation without waiting for the NYSC Certificate which employers usually ask for. Although it is likely that the NYSC certificate will still be required for jobs in the Public Service while private establishments can decide to make it optional.

This new development was made known on Wednesday when President Muhammadu Buhari played host to officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, led by the permanent secretary, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta, and the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig. Gen. Johnson Olawumi.

The perm sec while briefing the president, said that the increasing number of NYSC members posed a challenge to the scheme due to the dwindling revenue, from the national budget, to cater for their needs.

She said that the annual enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 at establishment in 1974 to 229,016 in 2014.

She also offered a projection that the number of corps participants may rise to 300,000 by year 2020 due to the increasing number of tertiary institutions.

Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, told the President that there were plans to make the scheme voluntary and reduce the corps population to make the programme more sustainable.

Buhari restated his commitment to maintain and improve the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme to fulfil its mission of promoting national unity and integration. The President affirmed his confidence and trust in the programme, saying that the objective for which the scheme was established was still very relevant for national development now.

“I firmly believe in NYSC and I think it should remain a national programme to promote integration. Whenever I go home to Daura, I look out for Corps members from Lagos, Aba and other parts of the country.”

“I am always thrilled to learn that except for the NYSC, some of them have never left their states of origin to visit other cities in the country,” President Buhari said.

Do you think NYSC should be crapped of made voluntary?