The Federal Government has unveiled a comprehensive reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), including the establishment of a ₦2 billion Innovation Fund, a unified digital command platform and a phased implementation plan spanning 2026 to 2028.
The reform was presented on Monday at a consultative forum commissioned by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination.
Speaking at the event, the Special Adviser, Mrs Hadiza Bala Usman, said the overhaul was necessitated by the urgent need to modernise the 52-year-old scheme, noting that the NYSC Act, last substantively amended in 1993, no longer reflects the realities of a digital and skills-driven economy.
According to her, findings from the Reform Committee revealed significant legal, operational and fiscal gaps threatening the sustainability of the scheme if not urgently addressed.
“The NYSC cannot run on a 1993 framework in a 2025 economy,” Bala Usman said. “We must redesign it to be modern, fiscally sustainable, digitally enabled and aligned with sectoral manpower needs.”
She explained that key proposals include a three-tier governance structure at national, state and local levels; decentralised funding mechanisms; and a sector-aligned deployment model. Under the new framework, corps members would be posted into priority sectors such as education, health, agriculture, digital economy, climate resilience and public infrastructure.
On funding, Bala Usman described the current financing model—largely dependent on federal allocations—as fragile and unsustainable. She said the ₦2bn Innovation Fund would support digital systems, skills acquisition programmes, seed grants for corps members and broader governance reforms.
Minister of Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, said the reform initiative was the outcome of multi-agency collaboration involving his ministry, the Ministry of Education, the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and other stakeholders.
He noted that corps members play a critical role in sub-national service delivery but that poor deployment has often prevented the country from fully utilising their skills.
“We don’t want corps members to leave service and immediately go searching for jobs,” Olawande said. “We want them to become job creators or return to the labour market with skills that are relevant and marketable.”
The minister added that the proposed framework would address placement gaps, institutionalise access to post-service credit for entrepreneurs and ensure deployments align with national manpower needs.
NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, said the scheme now mobilises about 400,000 corps members annually, compared to just 2,364 in 1973. He disclosed that projections indicate as many as 650,000 locally trained graduates could be eligible for service next year.
He also acknowledged lingering misconceptions about NYSC funding at the state level, pledging greater transparency and stronger partnerships with states to improve infrastructure and reduce pressure on federal resources.
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr Kashifu Inuwa, said technology and youth talent were central to the reform agenda. He revealed that NITDA has trained over 12,000 NYSC digital champions who have gone on to teach more than 400,000 Nigerians basic digital skills.
“We need to co-design reforms with the youth,” Inuwa said, adding that training must translate into enterprise development and job creation.
Bala Usman further disclosed that the reform proposal includes enhanced welfare and safety measures for corps members, a sector-aligned COP+ stream model, and phased deployment of digital infrastructure to integrate mobilisation, posting, payment and monitoring processes.
She said final recommendations from the consultative process would be presented to the Federal Executive Council before being forwarded to the National Assembly for the required legal amendments.
