Rejection Of NYSC Members: Time To Chart New Course

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has expressed concern over the increasing rate at which corps members are being rejected by their assigned employers.

This was the main narrative at the 2025 Annual NYSC Corps Employers’ Workshop, which was held in Jos recently. The Director-General of the NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, who was represented at the event by his Deputy Director for the North-Central Zone, raised the issue.

The theme of the workshop was “Partners in Progress: Corps Employers’ Role in Enhancing Corps Members’ Well-being and Productivity”.

The DG emphasised that corps employers play a crucial role in shaping the overall experience of corps members during their service year, as they provide the platform for corps members to apply their skills, gain practical experience, and develop their professional capacities.

Apart from corps members suffering rejection, the DG also noted several other shortcomings on the part of corps employers. Some of these include failure in applying for corps members, failure to provide statutory welfare provisions, and, in some cases, inhumane treatment of corps members.

The D-G urged corps employers to recognise the numerous challenges faced by corps members and to create a supportive work environment “that promotes their well-being and productivity”.

He stressed that a collaborative relationship between the NYSC and corps employers was essential to strengthening and sustaining the objectives of the scheme.

When the NYSC scheme officially commenced in the June 1973-74 Service Year, only 2,700 graduates were mobilised for compulsory national service. As of December 2023, a total of 5,523,763 graduates have been mobilised for the scheme.

But today, data according to University World News records has shown that universities and polytechnics in the country currently produce over 600,000 graduates every year, a situation that has forced the NYSC to introduce batches for the scheme in order to accommodate the huge numbers.

Unlike when the scheme started in 1973, and there were more than enough private sector companies and government agencies to absorb the few graduates coming out of the tertiary institutions, the economic environment today has made it difficult for many employers to meet the demands of engaging corps members.

Thus, organisations which could take 10 corpers now settle for one or two, while smaller ones don’t even make any request for them. Some corps members who had been rejected were always told, “Sorry, we can’t take you; we already have more corps members than we need.”

The NYSC scheme, established by Decree No. 24 of May 1973, now referred to as the NYSC Act N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, was established as an intervention strategy for healing the wounds of the 30-month Nigerian Civil War that occurred from 1967 to 1970.

The scheme was set up to promote national integration and unity and provide manpower for development across the country.

But after 51 years of running the scheme, it is time to review its operations and agenda. It has become obvious in the last 10 years that the scheme has lost steam and relevance due to consistent rejection of corps members by employers, including government agencies.

While it has undoubtedly promoted national integration, it is no longer serving the interests of the graduates who require job experience to prepare them for the job market or as entrepreneurs.

This is the time to chart a new course for the scheme and make it more relevant to the needs of the nation and the teeming graduates of our tertiary institutions. The scheme must become more dynamic to meet new challenges.

There’s an urgent need to redirect the energy of our youths into new assignments that mutually benefit the nation and the corps members.

For instance, in view of the security challenges bedevilling the country, the scheme could be tailored more towards supporting the security architecture of the country. Corps members could be deployed to military and paramilitary formations across the country, not for combat purposes but to offer logistics and administrative support.

This would also make our young people appreciate the importance of security and cooperation with security agencies to improve the protection of lives and properties.

Others have also suggested training the corps members to become digital ambassadors across the country to kickstart a digital revolution.

Rejection Of NYSC Members: Time To Chart New Course is first published on The Whistler Newspaper