Education Minister Proposes Two-Year NYSC Duration

Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has suggested extending the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme from one year to two years.

During a courtesy visit by the new NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, at his office in Abuja on Friday, the minister praised the scheme’s leadership and recent digital reforms. He noted that the digitisation of NYSC processes has significantly curbed certificate racketeering and forgery.

Alausa also touched on the ongoing debate surrounding the exemption of part-time Ordinary National Diploma (OND) graduates from the NYSC scheme.

Pushing for reform, the minister advocated an expansion of the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, suggesting that a two-year service would better equip corps members to become job creators and contribute more meaningfully to national development.

“You have done so well as an organisation,” he said. “Let NYSC give young Nigerians more opportunities to become job creators and meet the country’s needs.”

In response, Brigadier General Nafiu appreciated the minister’s support and contributions to the scheme’s progress. He also called for the establishment of a comprehensive database to track Nigerian youths who study abroad, in a bid to ensure proper documentation and engagement of graduates returning from foreign institutions.