FG Unveils NYSC Reform, Sets Up N2bn Innovation Fund

The Federal Government is proposing a comprehensive overhaul of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), to include a N2 billion Innovation Fund.

Speaking at a stakeholder forum on the proposed reform, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, said the initiative was driven by the “urgent need to make the 52-year-old scheme more responsive to the needs of Nigerian and its teeming youth population.

She said the NYSC Act was last reviewed in 1993, emphasizing that it is no longer fit for a digital economy.

She added that the Reform Committee’s diagnostic and institutional reviews exposed “legal, operational and fiscal gaps” that must be closed to secure the scheme’s future.

Bala Usman explained that the proposals include a three-tier governance structure (national, state and local), decentralised funding arrangements and a sector-aligned deployment model that will post corps members into priority streams such as teaching, health, agriculture, the digital economy, climate resilience and public infrastructure.

“The NYSC cannot run on a 1993 framework in a 2025 economy,” she said.

“We must redesign it to be modern, fiscally sustainable, digitally enabled, and aligned with sectoral manpower needs.”

On financing, Bala Usman added that the scheme’s current model, largely dependent on federal allocations, is “fragile and unsustainable,” and said the ₦2bn Innovation Fund would finance digital systems, skill acquisition, seed grants and governance reforms.

The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said the NYSC Reform Initiative is a product of multi-agency collaboration involving his ministry, the Ministry of Education, the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies and other stakeholders. He noted that corps members are indispensable to sub-national service delivery, from education and healthcare to digital literacy, and said misplaced postings have denied the country the value of its skilled graduates.

“We don’t want corps members to leave service and immediately go searching for jobs,” he said. “We want them to be job creators, or to return to the labour market with marketable skills.”

Olawande explained that the draft framework will tackle placement gaps, institutionalise post-service credit access for entrepreneurs, and ensure corps members are posted in line with their training and national manpower needs.

Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, NYSC Director-General, said the scheme now mobilises about 400,000 corps members annually, compared with 2,364 in 1973, and that projections from 419 core-producing institutions indicate 650,000 locally trained graduates may seek service next year.

He noted that misunderstanding about funding at state level persists and said the NYSC will “open records” and deepen state partnerships on infrastructure and orientation to ease pressure on federal coffers.

“Many states rely on corps members to plug manpower gaps,” he said, adding that the NYSC will work with states to better plan and absorb graduates.

Dr. Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, said technology and talent were central to the reform, noting that NITDA has trained 12,211 NYSC champions who have in turn taught over 400,000 Nigerians basic digital skills. He added that NITDA is using the NYSC platform to incubate youth startups, provide seed funding and pilot AI solutions developed by corps members.

“We need to co-design reforms with the youth,” he said. “Training must convert to enterprise and job creation.”

Bala Usman said the reform proposal also envisages a sector-aligned COP+ stream model, strengthened welfare and safety measures for corps members, and phased delivery of digital infrastructure to integrate mobilisation, posting, payment and monitoring.

She added that final recommendations from the consultative forum will be forwarded to the Federal Executive Council and then to the National Assembly for legal amendments.

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