FCT, Abuja – The federal government may soon extend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme from one to two years.
This is following calls by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Olatunji Alausa, during a courtesy visit by the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, to his office in Abuja.
According to a statement released on the official NYSC Facebook page, Dr. Alausa emphasized the need to reform and expand the scope of the service year, particularly in terms of entrepreneurship training and manpower support for rural schools.
“I believe NYSC can do more than it currently does. Extending it to two years will allow corps members to acquire real, useful skills and give back meaningfully to the society,” Alausa said.
More skills, more impact
A key proposal in the minister’s remarks was the expansion of the NYSC’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
According to him, an extended service year would provide more time for corps members to become self-reliant and job creators.
“Let NYSC give people more opportunities to become job creators that will meet the needs of the country,” Alausa added.
He also called for the deployment of more graduate teachers to rural communities, a move he said would help close the widening manpower gap in underserved schools.
Crackdown on certificate racketeering
The Minister commended NYSC for improving its mobilisation process, especially in curbing certificate fraud involving foreign-trained graduates within West Africa.
He said the Ministry of Education was working to digitise the verification of such certificates to eliminate loopholes.
He praised NYSC’s efforts in addressing the long-standing issue of OND part-time graduates with full-time HND certificates who were previously excluded from service.
NYSC vows compliance with reforms
In response, the NYSC DG, Brigadier General Ahmed, expressed support for the proposed reforms and affirmed the Scheme’s readiness to align with federal policy changes.
“NYSC is ready to comply with policy guidelines as directed by the Federal Government. We are also trying to reform the scheme to conform with present national needs,” he stated.
The DG also proposed the creation of a database to track Nigerian youths studying abroad, saying it would assist in identifying fake academic credentials.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to deeper collaboration with NYSC for the benefit of the nation’s education sector.
