NYSC will prioritise indigenes, residents in deployment to high-risk states – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu says the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will prioritise indigenes, residents, and graduates of institutions in states considered high-risk during deployment, as part of reforms aimed at strengthening the scheme.

On Monday, the federal executive council (FEC) approved seven major reforms for the scheme in a bid to strengthen its efficiency.

Ayodele Olawande, minister of youth development, said after the weekly FEC meeting, the council maintained the scheme’s one‑year duration and introduced seven major reforms which include digitalisation and change of leadership structure from military to civilians, and a redesigned NYSC uniform.

In a statement issued via X on Wednesday, the president said his administration is reforming NYSC to make the scheme safer and smarter for graduates.

He said unlike the past, deployment to security-challenged states will now be guided by risk assessment.

“Deployment to security-challenged states will be guided by risk assessment. It will prioritise indigenes, residents, graduates of institutions in those states and those from neighbouring states within the same geopolitical zones,” Tinubu said.

The president described the new reforms as the most consequential overhaul of the scheme since its establishment in 1973.

“For 53 years, the NYSC has served the cause of national unity. That mission remains important and must be preserved,” he said.

“Our young people are nearly 70 percent of our population. They are not a burden to be managed. They are the engine of the one-trillion-dollar economy we are building and the hope of this nation.

“We are repositioning the NYSC from a mobilisation scheme into a national development platform for skills, employability, productivity and enterprise.”

The president added that every corps member must leave NYSC better prepared for work, enterprise and national service.

“Our administration is also strengthening governance, standards and the dignity of the NYSC scheme,” he said.

He noted that NYSC will be led by a civilian director-general, supported by three executive directors, including a security services executive director, who will be a military or paramilitary officer.

“Orientation camps will be assessed under a national grading and certification framework, while states will be expected to meet minimum standards,” he said.

“The Passing-Out Parade will become a Graduation Ceremony because our corps members will no longer merely complete service. They will graduate as trained civic and professional contributors to national development.”

The president commended stakeholders involved in the reform process, including Olawande, Hadiza Bala Usman, special adviser on policy and coordination to the president, and the federal ministry of education.

He also directed the federal ministry of youth development and the Ministry of Justice to begin the process of amending the NYSC Act and related regulations.

The new policy includes 11 specialised streams for corps members and a six-week camp arrangement. (TheCable)