The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) said the scheme has stopped posting corps members to states deemed unsafe as a result of the worsening security conditions in the country.
The Minister of Youth, Jamila Ibrahim disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Recall that several corps members have been abducted in some parts of the country during their one-year mandatory national service, raising fears about the sustainability of the scheme.
But Ibrahim said the scheme has taken steps to secure NYSC members including posting them only to safe states.
She said, “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. We have been doing it in the past. There are states we have not been posting corps members to to ensure their safety,” she added.
According to her, the security of corps members requires collaboration with other government agencies.
The minister said, “When it comes to security matters, it is a multi-sectoral approach. So, it is not the NYSC alone and the ministry that is involved. We are working with security outlets to ensure corps members are safe.
“We are also working on group transportation strategies for them to ensure that they are transported to and from camps safely and to their destinations.”
The minister said the Federal Government is working on reforming the NYSC scheme to reflect the present realities of the nation, particularly in the area of their allowance.
Ibrahim said, “When it comes to remuneration, we are looking at the holistic funding of the NYSC. You are all aware that we have announced a reform of the NYSC scheme itself. We want the scheme to go beyond being a social programme of the government.
“The reforms will actually transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and prepare corps members for the job market…”