A bill to amend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Act was stepped down in the House of Representatives at plenary on January 17. The bill is a consolidation of six bills seeking to amend the Act, jointly sponsored by Hon. Eta Mbora (PDP; Cross River), Hon. Abbas Adigun (PDP; Oyo), Hon. Ben Igbakapa (PDP; Delta), Hon. Moshood Akinolu (APC; Lagos) and Hon. Oluyemi Taiwo (PDP; Oyo). It seeks to amend section 2 of the Act to make the National Service optional rather than compulsory for graduates under the age of 30 years. The bill also provides that an exemption letter be given to any graduate who applies for it in lieu of participating in the Service.
The bill further seeks to amend section 18(2) of the NYSC Act to increase the accommodation and transport allowances paid to Corps members by their employers, to reflect current economic realities. The law currently provides an accommodation allowance of N250 and a transport allowance of N150. The amendment increases these amounts to N20,000 and N15,000, respectively. In addition, the bill seeks to ensure that Corps members who are interested in joining the military and paramilitary services gain automatic employment while in the orientation camps.
However, some Members opposed the proposed amendment to make NYSC optional. Hence, the bill failed to pass for Second reading. The House resolved that the bill be stepped down for review by the Committee on Rules and Business for the contentious proposals to be removed and the bill re-considered for Second Reading.
The debate of the importance of the NYSC programme has been on among Nigerians, with some citizens canvassing that insecurity and ethnic tensions have made the programme less desirable, while others are of the opinion that the employment opportunities it provides to graduates remain relevant.
It is unclear why this amendment is being presented as a regular bill, as the NYSC Act is one of the four laws embedded in the Constitution, and as such, will require a Constitution amendment to alter its provisions.