Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo has promised to increase the monthly allowance of corps members serving in the southwest state from N5,000 to N15,000.
Makinde gave the assurance on Thursday when he visited the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Permanent Orientation Camp at Iseyin.
“We visited the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp at Iseyin this evening. I assured the youth corps members that we would address the issues raised by the Commandant about the state of the camp,” the governor tweeted on his official handle. “I also told them we would increase their allowance from N5,000 to N15,000.”
Calls for the scrapping of the NYSC scheme have recently made front pages following a move by a federal lawmaker, Awaji-Inombek Abiante to sponsor a bill to repeal the National Youth Service Corps Act.
“Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps Management now give considerations to posting corps members to their geo-political zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration,” the lawmaker argued.
But while recalling his experiences during the one-year mandatory programme, the Oyo leader lauded the NYSC for building bridges of unity in Nigeria.
“I also shared with them how it was during my national youth service in Port-Harcourt that I got a job and met and married my lovely wife, Ominini Makinde,” he explained. “So, I am an example of how the national youth service could foster national integration. I wished them the best for the future.”
We visited the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp at Iseyin this evening. I assured the youth corps members that we would address the issues raised by the Commandant about the state of the camp. I also told them we would increase their allowance from N5,000 to N15,000.
— Seyi Makinde (@seyiamakinde) June 3, 2021
Embracing ‘The Spirit Of NYSC’
The NYSC DG believes the scheme is a unifying factor in the country.
Makinde’s comment corroborated that of the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim who on Wednesday called on Nigerians to shun division and embrace unity by letting the spirit of the scheme live in them.
Amid heightened secessionist agitations in the country, Brigadier General Ibrahim told Nigerians to dwell on their experience in NYSC orientation camps where they lived together in unity with fellow corps from various tribes.
“Cast your mind back to that scenario and let live together. We have no other country except Nigeria,” the NYSC boss said when he featured on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.
“We must be patriotic, put our hands together and see how we can move the country forward. Let the spirit of NYSC live in us. If there’s no NYSC what would have happened to our country? There’s no country without its challenges.”
