The government is exploring innovative ways to ensure the welfare of corps members despite dwindling resources.
Spotlighting the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as the new week begins, the Bola Tinubu-led federal government has revealed a plan to transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency.
The Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, made this revelation during a recent interview with ChannelsTV on Sunday, January 04, 2023, night.
Acknowledging the challenging economic circumstances facing the nation, Minister Jamila Bio-Ibrahim explained the need to adapt the NYSC scheme to the current realities.
She pointed out that the government was exploring innovative ways to ensure the welfare of corps members despite dwindling resources.
“We all understand that resources are dwindling, even oil revenues are not as they used to be, but we will find innovative ways of ensuring that corps members’ welfare is well-taken care of,” the minister stated.
Minister Jamila Bio-Ibrahim further elaborated on the planned reforms, explaining that they aimed to position the NYSC as a revenue-generating agency.
The goal is to prepare corps members for the job market, enabling them to secure decent and gainful employment or become employers of labor through entrepreneurship.
“The reforms will transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and prepare the corps members for the job market and to be decently and gainfully employed or to be employers of labor through entrepreneurship,” she stated.
Highlighting the importance of the reforms, the minister emphasized the holistic funding of the NYSC, ensuring that it goes beyond being a social program to become a sustainable and self-sufficient entity.
In response to concerns about the safety of corps members, Minister Bio-Ibrahim reassured the public that the government had taken immediate measures to address the issue.
She disclosed that, in light of the worsening security conditions in the country, corps members would no longer be posted to states deemed unsafe.
“As an immediate intervention of the government and the NYSC as an agency, we have actually stopped posting corps members to the very unsafe states. We have been doing it. There are states we have not been posting corps members to ensure their safety,” she affirmed.
To address security matters effectively, the minister noted a multi-sectoral approach, noting that collaboration with other government agencies was crucial. She assured the public that the Ministry of Youth Development and the NYSC were working in tandem with security outlets to ensure the safety of corps members.
