NYSC needs complete overhaul to drive youth empowerment — Board Chairman Eta

The newly appointed Chairman of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Governing Board, Ntufam Hilliard Eta, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the NYSC scheme to better serve Nigeria’s economic and developmental goals.

Eta made the remarks after a courtesy visit to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

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Speaking to journalists, Eta emphasized the potential of the NYSC scheme as a powerful tool for youth empowerment if properly restructured.

He said, “The NYSC could be used to create the biggest, largest empowerment programme that any government can possibly conceive.

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“It is very arguable that most graduates of our tertiary institutions are no longer employable and are without skills and have become a burden on the system.

“And so, my intention is to use that scheme to change the narrative as we have it today in Nigeria.

“It is possible for the scheme to create a process where every graduate coming out of the tertiary institutions is trained. The NYSC has what we call the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), but I believe that the SAED has to be comprehensively overhauled and that it should be made the central focus of the NYSC.

Eta also criticized the outdated NYSC uniform, saying it no longer reflects the dynamism and style of the youth population it represents. He argued that a modern and more appealing design is overdue.

According to him, “That uniform was first fashioned in 1973. Even the most conservative military formations have changed their uniforms. The Nigerian Army has changed its uniform two or three times since 1973.

“It is quite embarrassing that the demography that is most fashionable, between the ages of 18 and 30, is forced to wear the kind of things they wear and call it a uniform.”

On the state of orientation camps across the country, Eta said only a few meet acceptable standards, urging urgent government intervention to upgrade facilities nationwide.

“If you go to the 37 camps, barely two or three camps—Port Harcourt, Nasarawa, and maybe Bauchi—are conducive. Other camps are not suitable for these people to excel. I believe we should do something about it. I believe that the camps should be upgraded, he stressed”.

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