The national youth service corps (NYSC) is set to be restructured to meet the demands of the future, according to the minister of youth development, Jamila Bio-Ibrahim. The minister said a team to undertake the review, restructuring and reforms of the NYSC would be inaugurated soon.
Bio-Ibrahim announced this in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the maiden meeting of NYSC management with heads of corps producing institutions in Nigeria.
“Permit me to inform us very briefly on what is to come regarding the NYSC reforms. I’m pleased to announce that I will be inaugurating a team to undertake the review, restructuring and reforms of the NYSC. The first of these reforms will be centred on reviewing participants with an entrepreneurship mindset and making skills development a core of the programme.
“The NYSC already does that, but the objective is to work with them to strengthen that mandate they already have to be more efficient, effective and benefitting.
“So, we envision a future where the NYSC programmes are not only self-sustained but also revenue-generating within the next five years. To achieve this, we will institutionalize the NYSC ventures as an investment and asset management outfit,” she said.
The minister also announced that over 5,000 corps members would have their entrepreneurial ventures funded with about ₦10 million.
“Furthermore, as part of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund programme for 2024, I’m also pleased to announce that at least 5,000 corps members will have their entrepreneurial ventures funded with up to ₦10million while passing out,” she announced.
The director general of the NYSC, brigadier general Yushau Dogara Ahmed, said the meeting was aimed at enhancing the mobilisation of prospective corps members.
Ahmed said the meeting, which was a follow-up to a previous one with heads of corps producing institutions in west Africa, aimed to evolve strategies for eliminating identified flaws and ensuring a more seamless mobilisation process.
