The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme is not going to be scrapped! This was the decision of the Presidency on Wednesday after a presentation to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Federal Ministry of Youths .
The president expressed the conviction that the NYSC had served and will continue to serve as vehicle for national unity and cohersion.
The ministry’s officials were led by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta.
Affirming his confidence in the programme, Buhari said the objective for which the scheme was established in 1973 was still very key to national growth
He said: “Whenever I go home to Daura, I look out for Corps members from Lagos, Aba and other parts of the country.
“I am always thrilled to learn that except for the NYSC, some of them have never left their states of origin to visit other cities in the country,”
Mrs. Jimeta told the President that the increasing number of NYSC participants posed a challenge to the scheme due to the dwindling revenue, from the national budget, to cater for their needs.
She told the President that the annual enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 at inception in 1974 to 229,016 in 2014.
“Given the increasing number of tertiary institutions, our projection is that the number of corps participants may rise to 300,000 by year 2020,” she stated.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, told the President that there were plans to make the scheme voluntary and reduce the corps population.