FG to expand NYSC scheme – Minister

The Minister of Youth Development and
Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalong, has said the
Federal Government plans to expand the
National Youth Service Corps scheme to
include skill acquisition and entrepreneurial
training.
Dalong said this on Tuesday during an
inspection tour of the Lagos State NYSC
orientation camp in the Iyana Ipaya area of
the state.
He said, “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
found 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.”
The minister explained that graduates who
received addition training after the
mandatory one-year service would be
provided with a start-up capital at the end of
the training.
He also said that the Federal Government
would not succumb to agitations from some
quarters to scrap the NYSC scheme as its
merits outweighed the disadvantages.
According to him, the scheme has not only
enhanced the socio-cultural and ethnic
integration in the country, it has also
promoted national unity.
“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.
Dalong expressed satisfaction with the state
of the Lagos NYSC orientation camp, and
thanked the Lagos State government for its
support for the scheme.
He, however, stressed that the inadequate
facilities at the NYSC orientation camp was
one of the challenges of 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 Director-General of NYSC, Brig. Gen.
Johnson Bamidele Olawumi, expressed
gratitude to the minister for his visit and
promised that his administration would do its
best to uplift the NYSC scheme towards the
economic growth and development of the
country.