By Our Correspondent
Abuja
Prominent legal practitioner, Anthony Enahoro Esq., has called for the immediate scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), saying the scheme has outlived its relevance and now endangers the lives of Nigerian graduates.
Enahoro, who spoke on the state of youth development in the country, argued that the NYSC has “outserved its purposes right from the 1990s.” He said the original objective of fostering national unity no longer aligns with present-day realities of insecurity and unemployment.
The senior lawyer also faulted the federal government for spending huge resources to sustain the programme. “The FG wastes a lot of money sponsoring it,” he stated, adding that those funds could be better deployed to create jobs and support entrepreneurship.
Citing insecurity, Enahoro lamented that many corps members have lost their lives to terrorists while serving, especially in states like Zamfara. “This puts their parents in agony,” he said, describing it as a major risk the government can no longer ignore.
To address the flaws, he proposed an amendment to the law establishing the NYSC to make service optional rather than mandatory. According to him, graduates who choose not to serve should not be penalized.
“If amended, those who didn’t serve shouldn’t be denied government employment, and the age of service should be reduced to 26,” he recommended, noting that many graduates are delayed for years before mobilization.
Enahoro further suggested that the scheme should be restricted to graduates of critical courses such as Education. He said they could be deployed to states that lack teachers, instead of deploying all graduates indiscriminately.
He also highlighted administrative lapses within the scheme. “Many graduates stay more than two years, waiting to serve,” he noted, while also pointing out that the government is struggling to fund the programme, leaving some corps members without uniforms.
Rather than keep graduates idle, the lawyer urged government to prioritize entrepreneurship. “Let the government be serious in encouraging entrepreneurship courses in higher institutions and be giving each graduate from N5 million to start something with it,” he said.
Enahoro concluded that the NYSC is no longer what it used to be and has given many useful reasons why it should be stopped. “The scheme has outlived its usefulness. It is time for a policy that empowers graduates, not one that wastes their time and risks their lives,” he said.
