During a meeting in Abuja with some African Corps Producing Institutions, Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), stated that graduates who do not meet the required criteria for the one-year youth service scheme will not be allowed to participate.
The purpose of the program, as Ahmed emphasized, is to shape Nigerian youths to promote national unity and development by instilling values such as discipline, honesty, accountability, hard work, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance.
Ahmed expressed his concern regarding higher institutions and school owners compromising standards for financial gain, resulting in the production of unqualified graduates.
The statement was signed by Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa.
He urged a shift towards producing world-class graduates aligned with the ideals of NYSC, both in character and learning.
Starting from the 2024 Batch ‘A’ service year, Ahmed announced plans to extend the collection of the master list of graduates to schools in Niger Republic, Cameroon, Ghana, and Uganda, encompassing approximately 20% of graduates from the African continent. The initiative aims to cover countries with a high vulnerability to the falsification of academic and travel documents.
To address challenges in mobilizing foreign-trained Nigerian graduates, Ahmed disclosed that schools in Benin Republic, Togo, Cameroon, and Niger will now submit a project-bound master list of their graduates to the NYSC every service year. This practice, which has been in place for Nigerian schools for decades, is intended to enhance the efficiency of the mobilization process.
Director of Corps Mobilization, Hajiya Walida Siddique Isa, reiterated the NYSC’s commitment to engaging countries with academic systems deviating from global best practices and established mobilization protocols.
