Politics
FG to Provide N14Bn for Corps Members’ Allowances and other Expenses—Minister
FG to provide N14Bn for corps members’ allowances and other expenses—Minister
The Federal Government would contribute over N14 billion to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme as allowances, according to Sunday Dare, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, in order to improve the welfare of serving members.
Dare, who made this statement at the 2023 NYSC annual management conference’s opening ceremony in Abuja yesterday, urged the scheme’s senior management to think creatively about developing and launching reforms to preserve the scheme’s relevance. NewsReport gathered.
Many national events, most notably the 2020 #EndSARS mass protest and the February 25 presidential election, he added, had shown stakeholders that no country segment could ignore the aspirations of the youths without consequences.
The minister said, “The final document and the approval are awaited for us to increase and improve the quality of the uniforms of our corps members by almost doubling the amount of money we spend on them.
“We also plan to increase the amount of money for bicycle allowance, feeding allowance, and compensation for the staff.”
“All of that has been done and has gone to the relevant agencies and the Ministry of Finance.” I’m sure that as it makes its way to the presidency, it will get a positive response that will see an injection of fourteen billion (N14bn) into the corps and welfare for the NYSC.
“I, therefore, want to challenge the NYSC to depart from the norm and think outside the box. Take the road less travelled and come up with critical reforms that will make the NYSC better than what it is.
“We need internal reforms because we deal with a very sensitive population. Since #EndSARS happened and then the February 25 and March 18 elections, no segment of this country can or should ever ignore the youth of our country. They make up 41 percent of the voting population.
“The youths of this country deserve investment in skills, but also those of us entrusted with taking care of them must be sensitive to their needs and also to the issues that are affecting them today.”
The Minister, however, expressed optimism that the proposed NYSC Trust Fund bill would soon receive President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent, stressing that the initiative would make funds available for Corps entrepreneurs to establish their businesses and advance their trainings in the Scheme’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
He said: “Just last week, I received the final document of the passed NYSC Trust Fund Bill, which is awaiting the assent of the President. I have returned it to the presidency with a resounding ‘yes, so the president can give his assent.
“Under the NYSC Trust Fund, we have a major component to extend the SAED programme from three weeks to one year and to provide matching funds at the end of the service year.”
Earlier, the Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, noted that since the establishment of NYSC in 1973, it has remained a reference point for other organisations due to its vital roles in the promotion of national unity and integration.
“It is also a reference for peaceful coexistence among Nigerians of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and free movement of labour.
“The contributions of the scheme in the areas of health, education, rural infrastructure, culture and tourism, sports, the conduct of elections, population censuses, and job creation, among others, are enormous.” “They have earned commendations from within and outside the country,” he added.
Ahmed commended the contributions of all stakeholders to the achievements of the scheme so far, saying the NYSC would use the conference to consolidate and build on them by evolving new ideas for greater impact.
He, therefore, called on critical stakeholders to support the scheme in addressing some of its challenges, adding that he was also hopeful that the NYSC Trust Fund would be actualized soon.
