By Habeeb Ibrahim
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, has proposed an extension of the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme from one to two years.
Dr. Alausa made the proposal on Friday while receiving the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, in his office in Abuja. According to a statement released on NYSC’s official page, the minister said the additional service year would focus primarily on deepening corps members’ entrepreneurial training under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
“We must begin to see NYSC not just as a national integration tool, but as a key engine for job creation and capacity building,” Dr. Alausa said. “If expanded and strategically structured, this scheme can equip thousands of Nigerian youths annually to become self-reliant and industry-ready.”
Beyond skills acquisition, Alausa also advocated for the deployment of more graduate teachers to rural communities to bridge the growing educational manpower gap, a move he says could be supported by a longer service duration.
The Education Minister also praised NYSC’s recent digital reforms aimed at curbing certificate fraud among foreign-trained graduates and noted ongoing efforts to digitise the verification process for Nigerian students who study abroad.
Brigadier General Nafiu, in response, commended the Ministry’s forward-thinking approach and pledged the scheme’s support in aligning with national development needs. He also called for a national database of Nigerians studying abroad to address cases of academic fraud.
If implemented, this would be the first major overhaul of the NYSC scheme since its inception in 1973, and is likely to trigger widespread reactions from stakeholders, including students, parents, labour unions, and policy analysts.
