The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has given assurance to former corpers that recently completed their service year will receive arrears of the revised N77,000 monthly allowance following the implementation of the new minimum wage.
The assurance was given by the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Akinlayo Nafiu during the Batch A 2025 pre-mobilisation workshop held in Abuja on Thursday.
The workshop brought together heads of corps-producing institutions and key stakeholders to discuss mobilisation challenges and reforms.
Brig. Gen. Nafiu said the government remains committed to fulfilling its obligations to corps members and that payment of the arrears will commence as soon as funds are made available.
“Even our corps members that just passed out will benefit. Once we receive cash backing for the arrears, we are going to credit them. We have their bank details,” the DG stated.
He further urged Nigerians not to worry, saying, “The government is both responsible and responsive to the needs of its citizens.”
The federal government began disbursing the revised N77,000 monthly allowance to corps members last month, nearly eight months after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law.
Meanwhile, the NYSC Director of Corps Mobilisation, Mohammed Abubakar, raised concerns over the fraudulent mobilisation of unqualified individuals by some tertiary institutions. He noted that although progress has been made, serious issues still persist.
“We have made remarkable progress in recent years, thanks to improved collaboration and innovative methods. However, we still face the challenge of institutions uploading unqualified graduates for mobilisation. This is an issue we must urgently address,” Abubakar said.
In his remarks, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, called for a total reform of the NYSC scheme to align with the realities of the present day and the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu-led administration.
“NYSC was created in 1973 for a purpose, but everything has changed since then. We must reform the scheme to prepare our graduates for today’s labour market,” Olawande said.
He stressed that reforming the scheme should be a collective effort involving both government and stakeholders.
Also speaking, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, through the Mandate Secretary of Youth and Sport, Abdullahi Suleiman, reaffirmed the FCT administration’s support for the NYSC. He pledged continued collaboration to ensure the scheme achieves its objectives.
