•Corps members and Adire
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, has confirmed that one of the reforms approved for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will see the scheme’s traditional khaki uniform replaced with Adire fabric.
Speaking on Channels Television today, the minister said the change is aimed at promoting local manufacturing and ensuring government spending benefits the Nigerian economy.
Responding to a question on whether the new uniform would be produced locally, Olawande said: “It’s Adire. So, Adire is being produced in Nigeria. We have them in Ogun, we have them in Kwara, we have textile industry. Let’s put our money back into the country.”
The minister also disclosed that, under the ongoing restructuring of the scheme, Corps members would increasingly be posted based on their areas of specialisation.
He explained that graduates with education-related qualifications would be posted to schools, rather than the existing practice of deploying Corps members without regard to their professional backgrounds.
“That after you are leaving the camp, you are not just posted to a school just because NYSC wants you to be in school but because of the process you followed when in camp. So, that is going to give a framework of where you are going to be posted to,” he said.
On security concerns in some parts of the country, Olawande said the government is considering deploying prospective Corps members to regions where they studied and are already familiar with the environment, particularly in areas affected by insecurity.
He said the approach would reduce concerns by parents and prospective Corps members while making the deployment process more practical.
“If we have a particular area that is having insecurity, instead of probably forcing people or parents to start talking, we must also give them an opportunity that ‘okay, who are those in that area, that schooled in that area, that know much about that area?’ Not just somebody, for example, let me say from South-West to North-East.
“If you have interest that you want to go to the North-East why not, but if you don’t have interest, instead of redeploying you, paying people for camp, doing all those funny things, we said no, let us look at it and say who are those in that area, that can reside in those geographical areas and still give us the kind of number we are looking for since we are saying NYSC should be more impactful. So, that is what we are talking about,” he said.
Olawande also dismissed reports suggesting the military would be removed from the NYSC, describing such claims as a misconception.
He clarified that while the scheme’s operational leadership would be headed by a civilian, the military would continue to play its role in the programme, particularly in ensuring the security of Corps members.
“We are not taking the military out of NYSC, it’s just a misconception and the way we read some of the things that were put out and that is the aspect that we need to start making research before reacting. Military is not taken away, there is no way you can take the military away. It is just saying that we are moving away from military mobilisation to civilian mobilisation,” the minister said.
The reforms follow the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday of a comprehensive overhaul of the NYSC, the first major reform of the scheme since its establishment 53 years ago.
As part of the decision, the FEC directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Youth Development to amend the NYSC Act and its regulations to accommodate the approved reforms and facilitate their implementation.
Under the new framework, the NYSC will be headed by a civilian in its operational leadership, while the military will continue to provide security support for Corps members nationwide.
The reforms are intended to reposition the NYSC as a skills-oriented, productivity-driven and youth-empowerment institution that aligns with the federal government’s goal of building a $1 trillion economy.
