By Anonymous, on behalf of disgruntled Corpers.
Every year, fresh graduates across Nigeria answer the “Clarion Call” with a mix of excitement, trepidation, and, let’s be honest, sheer dread. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), designed to foster national unity and provide young Nigerians with valuable work experience, has instead become a glorified system of exploitation, corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiency. While its original intentions might have been noble, today, the NYSC serves the vested interests of employers seeking cheap labour and government officials looking to dip their hands into yet another bottomless pool of public funds.
Youths Obey, Employers Exploit
At the heart of the NYSC lies a fundamental injustice: corps members are nothing more than heavily discounted employees for organizations looking to maximize profits. For many employers, the arrival of corps members is like Christmas morning – free labour wrapped in government regulation, delivered to their doorstep. These eager young graduates, full of hopes and dreams, quickly realize that they have been drafted into a system where their skills and efforts are undervalued, their stipends barely enough for sustenance, and their professional growth an afterthought.
The monthly allowance – sorry, “allawee” – is a laughable sum in an economy where even sachet water prices rise with the tides of inflation. Many corps members find themselves working full-time jobs that should command respectable salaries, yet they receive only the meager stipend, with some employers refusing to provide any additional compensation. In the worst cases, corps members are deployed to ghost organizations, left to fend for themselves while still expected to report for “duty.”
Rather than serving as a bridge to meaningful employment, the NYSC has become a convenient way for businesses to avoid hiring proper entry-level staff. Why pay a graduate when you can get one at government-subsidized rates? Why invest in training employees when a new batch of enthusiastic yet underpaid corps members will arrive the next year? The result is a cycle of stagnation that neither benefits the corps members nor improves the job market. Instead of empowering young Nigerians, the NYSC simply conditions them to accept exploitation as a rite of passage.
A Pool of Corruption, Not National Unity
If there’s one thing Nigeria excels at, it’s turning well-intentioned public programs into lucrative corruption schemes. The NYSC, unsurprisingly, has not been spared. With billions of naira allocated to the scheme annually, one would expect a robust, well-managed system. Instead, the program is riddled with inefficiencies, ghost names on payrolls, and contracts awarded to “politically connected” individuals for everything from kits to feeding arrangements.
Consider the NYSC orientation camps—supposed training grounds for national service but, in reality, battlegrounds for survival. The food is a mystery (often resembling an experiment gone wrong), the facilities are reminiscent of abandoned refugee camps, and the medical care is so inadequate that corps members pray harder for their immune systems than for divine protection. Meanwhile, funds meant for improving these conditions mysteriously vanish into the same black hole that swallows so much of Nigeria’s public money.
Then there’s the issue of “posting.” Officially, corps members are assigned to locations based on national unity and development needs. Anyone with the right connections or enough cash can secure a comfortable placement in an urban center while the rest are shipped off to remote villages where even network reception is considered a luxury. The process is as predictable as it is unfair, further exposing the systemic failure of the scheme.
Service Year or Survival Year?
For many corps members, NYSC is less about service and more about survival. It’s about dodging avoidable road mishaps during inter-state travel, navigating the minefield of underpaid and overworked postings, and figuring out how to make ends meet when the government allowance barely covers transport fares. It’s about avoiding predatory employers, corrupt officials, and, in some cases, genuine physical harm in regions where security concerns are ignored in the name of “national unity.”
Many young Nigerians now see NYSC not as an opportunity, but as a compulsory obstacle course to endure before real life begins. Even the once-glorified “Passing Out Parade” (POP) feels less like a graduation and more like a prison release ceremony—”Congratulations! You have survived a year of bureaucratic absurdity! Now go forth and face actual unemployment.”
The Case for Scrapping NYSC
If the purpose of NYSC is national integration, there are better ways to achieve it. Rather than forcing young people into a year-long program that benefits everyone but them, the government could invest in policies that promote cross-regional employment, support entrepreneurship, and develop sustainable youth-focused programs that do not involve exploitation and mismanagement.
Furthermore, the billions spent annually on NYSC could be redirected to improving education, job creation, and skills development initiatives that equip graduates for the workforce. Instead of forcing a Lagos-born software developer to “serve” in a rural health clinic with no computers, why not invest in tech incubators that foster innovation across the country? Instead of shipping accountants to underfunded schools, why not create financial literacy programs that benefit the broader population?
Conclusion: Time to Sound the Passing Out Parade for NYSC
The NYSC, in its current form, has outlived its usefulness. What began as a noble initiative has become a vehicle for exploitation, corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiency. The very system meant to empower young Nigerians now functions as an institutionalized form of cheap labour that does little to enhance career prospects. Meanwhile, the funds allocated to it continue to disappear into the pockets of those who see national service as a business venture rather than a developmental tool.
If we truly want to build a Nigeria where youth empowerment is not just a slogan, we must move beyond outdated programs that serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many. It’s time to retire the NYSC and replace it with initiatives that provide real opportunities for growth, employment, and national unity- without the suffering.
