The Federal government of Nigeria has stated that
there is no plan to scrap the National Youth Service
Corps scheme. The Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Mr.
Solomon Dalong made this disclosure in Lagos on
Tuesday. Dalong said the scheme had come to stay, adding
that its merits outweighed its demerits. The minister said this during an inspection tour of
the Lagos State NYSC orientation camp in the Iyana
Ipaya area of the state on Tuesday.

He stressed that the scheme had not only
enhanced the socio-cultural and ethnic integration
in the country but had also promoted national
unity. He said, “We cannot dismiss the gains of the NYSC
scheme in integrating Nigeria; I will stand firmly for
the sustenance of the system, to continue in its
capacity-building of Nigeria citizens because it is an
indispensable aspect of diversifying our culture.” He said such graduates would be provided with a
start-up capital at the end of the training, which
according to him would indirectly stimulate interest
in education.

“Apart from the basic orientation programme, the
NYSC scheme should also move into including
professional and enterprising programmes to
support and motivate those who would not want
to embrace public services in the country. “After the mandatory one-year service, the Federal
Government is planning an extension, to
professionally train interested corps members in
skill acquisition, enterprising and professional
programmes. “Corps members with keen interest would be
retained and some financial token given to them as
start-up capital in furtherance of their skill. This is
because due to our research, we find out that
people abandon school due to uncertainty of the
future. Hence, we believe this would help reduce the unemployed graduate ratio and curtail
pressure on white-collar job as a means to win the
war against poverty”, he further stated.

Dalong expressed satisfaction over the state of the
Lagos NYSC orientation camp, and thanked the
Lagos State government for its support for the
scheme. He said, “Nigeria did not plan to have the number
of graduates in this present dispensation. If we
had planned effectively, the concept of NYSC
camping would have started with a permanent
and effective structure. “The visionaries of the scheme did not anticipate
the lifespan of the scheme after the Civil War; the
implementation of the scheme was a strategy to
mobilise and integrate Nigerians together, hence,
the huge number of graduates each year has put
much pressure on the facilities, calling for constant renovation and upgrading,” the minister said.


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