The Federal Government has confirmed that the National Youth Service Corps will replace its traditional khaki uniform with Adire fabric, one of several reforms recently approved for the 53-year-old scheme.
Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande announced the change Thursday on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, saying the shift is intended to boost local production and ensure public spending supports Nigerian manufacturers. The Federal Executive Council approved the comprehensive NYSC overhaul on Monday.
Responding to questions on sourcing, Olawande said the Adire will be produced locally. “It’s Adire. Adire is being produced in Nigeria. We have them in Ogun; we have them in Kwara; we have textile industries. Let’s put our money back into the country,” he said.
Beyond the uniform change, the minister said corps members will increasingly be posted based on academic qualifications and career paths rather than general deployment. Graduates trained as teachers, for example, will be sent to schools after completing relevant training during orientation camp.
“After leaving camp, you are not just posted to a school because NYSC wants you there but because of the process you followed in camp. That will determine where you are posted,” Olawande explained.
On security and redeployment, the government is reviewing policy to allow more corps members to serve in states where they studied or are familiar, especially in areas facing security challenges. The move aims to cut redeployment requests and ease concerns from parents and prospective corps members.
“If we have a particular area that is having insecurity, instead of probably forcing people or parents to start talking, we must also give them an opportunity… ‘Who are those in that area, that schooled in that area, that know much about that area?’”
Olawande said. “If you have interest that you want to go to the North-East why not, but if you don’t have interest, instead of redeploying you, paying people for camp, doing all those funny things, we said no, let us look at it and say who are those in that area, that can reside in those geographical areas and still give us the kind of number we are looking for since we are saying NYSC should be more impactful.”Olawande also dismissed claims that the military would be removed from the scheme, calling it a misconception. While operational leadership will shift to civilian mobilisation, he said the military will retain its traditional role of securing corps members. “Military is not taken away, there is no how you can take the military away. It is just saying that we are moving away from military mobilisation to civilian mobilisation,” he noted.
Under the new framework, the orientation course will be extended to six weeks with stronger focus on entrepreneurship, vocational skills, civic responsibility and employability
.President Bola Tinubu said Wednesday that the reforms are designed to equip young Nigerians with practical skills and better prepare them for national development
