A professor of Crop Sciences at the Federal University of Agriculture, Ogun State, Philip Adetiloye, has called for the abolition of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, arguing that poor remuneration and the dehumanization of graduates have rendered the program obsolete.
He made his remarks on Monday in Ado-Ekiti during a press briefing on the nation’s state titled “Reform Nigeria or Risk Balkanization.”
A video clip shown during the briefing featured the statement:
“We aren’t just a band of blind musicians; we have journalists, teachers and computer”
The university don argued that the NYSC, introduced in 1973, has failed to achieve its primary objective of exposing Nigerians to diverse cultures to promote national unity, especially in light of ongoing economic instability.
According to Adetiloye, the poor wages attached to the scheme have demeaned graduates, making it necessary to scrap the program.
He further suggested that the NYSC be restructured to focus on emergency development programs by working with professional experts to tackle key challenges in agriculture, infrastructure, health, and industry across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
Reflecting on the original purpose of the program, Adetiloye stated,
“The urge to bridge the educational gap between the North and the South was one of the hidden objectives for initiating the National Youth Service in 1972.
He added, “That objective has been achieved and can no longer be justified. Every state in Nigeria has federal, state, and private universities; hence, using NYSC graduates from Southern Nigeria to fill the educational gap between the North and South has outlived its usefulness.
Further critiquing the scheme’s impact on national unity, he noted, “The stated major objective of the National Youth Service was to expose Nigerians to other cultures in Nigeria in order to foster national unity. The National Youth Service has not increased national unity nor reduced the perceived differences among the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.
He warned of the deepening divisions in the country by asserting, “Nigeria is more divided today than ever due to the insecurity unleashed by Fulani herdsmen on other ethnic nationalities and the severe poverty that can be attributed to a well-established culture of corruption and injustice in the allocation of resources in Nigeria.
Concluding his argument for reform, Adetiloye declared, “The National Youth Service program should be scrapped because it has outlived its usefulness. The extremely poor wages and dehumanization of our graduates in the name of a National Youth Service make a mockery of the scheme, hence the need to scrap it.
He further compared the earnings of NYSC participants with those of other labor sectors, remarking, “Uneducated migrant laborers in Southern Nigeria earn between 125,000 and 200,000 naira per month, which is much higher than what university graduates are paid during the so-called national service. National service should not be national suffering”.
Adetiloye also urged the National Assembly to stop funding undergraduate and college studies abroad, arguing that such tuition fees are beyond the means of most Nigerians. He stated, “With more than 274 universities, 205 National Certificate in Education Colleges, 85 Polytechnics, and 290 Nursing training institutions in Nigeria, the CBN and the legislative arm of government should stop funding undergraduate and college studies abroad.
He emphasized further, “No honest Nigerian in the public sector can afford fifty to one hundred thousand dollars to fund tuition, boarding, and feeding of one student abroad in one academic year.
