By Mary Onyia
President Bola Tinubu has disclosed that his long-standing vision for Nigerian youths shaped the far-reaching reforms recently approved for the National Youth Service Corps. According to the president, the changes fulfil a promise he made on his inauguration day to create real opportunities for young Nigerians and to give women and youth prominent roles in his administration. He noted that with young people making up close to seventy percent of the population, they must be seen not as a burden but as the driving force behind the nation’s ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy. “The young people are not a burden to be managed, but instead are engine of the one-trillion-dollar economy the nation is building”, President Tinubu insisted.
Announcing the reforms following Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting, Tinubu described them as the most significant overhaul of the NYSC since the scheme was established in 1973. He stressed that while the programme’s original mission of fostering national unity remains vital and must be sustained, the realities of present-day Nigeria call for a broader purpose. This recognition, he explained, is what informed government’s decision to transform the scheme’s focus.
Central to the reforms is a shift in the NYSC’s identity — from a mobilisation exercise to a platform for national development centred on skills acquisition, employability, productivity and enterprise. Tinubu explained that this repositioning is designed to make the service year more relevant to the economic needs of the country and the aspirations of its young graduates.
To achieve this, the orientation programme will be restructured into a six-week experience. It will open with modules on civic responsibility, leadership, values and personal development, before progressing to career readiness, entrepreneurship, and digital and financial literacy. The final phase will offer corps members specialised training tailored to their academic backgrounds and career interests.
The president added that this specialised training will span sectors including agriculture, health, education, technology, law, public service, infrastructure, the green economy, enterprise, the creative industry, and para-military and security service — an approach he believes will better equip graduates for the demands of a modern, growing economy.
Supporters of the reforms argue that the additional week in camp will equip corps members with practical skills in vocational training, digital technology, agriculture and entrepreneurship, making them more employable and better positioned to drive economic growth. They, however, stress that the success of the initiative will depend on effective implementation, adequate funding and the quality of the training.
Ultimately, they contend that the reforms could either strengthen Nigeria’s human capital or become an added burden on young graduates. Their success, they say, will be judged by whether they deliver tangible gains in employment, skills acquisition and national productivity that justify the extra time and cost.
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“On the day I was sworn in as your president, I promised to create meaningful opportunities for our young people. I said women and youths would feature prominently in our administration, and this reform is partly the actualisation of that promise.
“For 53 years, the NYSC has served the cause of national unity. That mission remains important and must be preserved. But the Nigeria of today demands more.
“Our young people are nearly 70 percent of our population. They are not a burden to be managed… They are the engine of the one-trillion-dollar economy we are building and the hope of this nation.
“We are repositioning the NYSC from a mobilisation scheme into a national development platform for skills, employability, productivity and enterprise.
“The NYSC orientation programme will now become a six-week journey. It will begin with civic responsibility, leadership, values and personal development. It will then move into career readiness, entrepreneurship, digital and financial skills. Finally, corps members will receive specialised training aligned with their academic background and career pathway”.
Giving further background of how the scheme will operate going forward, Tinubu said the new streams will include agriculture, health, education, technology, law, public service, infrastructure, green economy, enterprise, creative economy, and para-military/security service.
He said every corps member must leave NYSC better prepared for work, enterprise and national service.
According to him, “We are also making the NYSC scheme safer and smarter.
“Deployment to security-challenged states will be guided by risk assessment. It will prioritise indigenes, residents, graduates of institutions in those states and those from neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zones.
“The call-up process will become technology-driven and primary assignments will be better aligned with each corps member’s skills, academic background and career stream.
“Our administration is also strengthening governance, standards and the dignity of the NYSC scheme.
“The NYSC will be led by a civilian Director-General, supported by three Executive Directors, including a Security Services Executive Director, who will be a military or paramilitary officer.
“Orientation camps will be assessed under a national grading and certification framework, while states will be expected to meet minimum standards.
“The passing-out parade will become a graduation ceremony because our corps members will no longer merely complete service. They will graduate as trained civic and professional contributors to national development.
“I commend the Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande; my Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman; the Federal Ministry of Education; and the members of the Reform Committee for their work.
“I have directed the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the Federal Ministry of Justice to commence the process of amending the NYSC Act and subsidiary regulations. To every young Nigerian: this nation believes in you.
“We are building a country worthy of your talent, your ambition and your future”.