The Nigerian government has finally commenced the payment of the new N77,000 monthly allowance for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.
SaharaReporters confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that several corps members received credit alerts reflecting the increased stipend, putting an end to the long-standing delay that had sparked frustration and protests.
This development comes days after Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande assured Nigerians during a Channels TV interview that the backlog would be cleared by the end of March.
For months, the Nigerian government had been dragging its feet on implementing the approved allowance increase, citing budgetary constraints and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
During his Monday interview, Olawande attempted to explain the delay.
“I have explained this several times. Some people say I always mention it’s a process, and it is seriously a process. It was not in the budget when the president announced it. Some agencies and parastatals need to have their salaries included in the budget before anything can be done or paid out,” he said.
The minister emphasised that while President Bola Tinubu had approved the allowance months ago, actual disbursement required budgetary allocations that had not been in place at the time of the announcement.
“Anybody can approve anything, but you must have a budgetary allocation for it. Now, they are done with the process. It has been approved and signed. Now, they can start taking it,” Olawande added.
His comments had triggered scepticism among corps members, many of whom had endured months of unfulfilled government promises.
A primary concern had been the fate of outgoing corps members, those who had served under the previous stipend but were supposed to benefit from the new allowance.
Addressing this, Olawande reiterated the government’s commitment to paying the backlog.
“You saw the new DG when they asked him, what about those who are going out now? Are they going to receive their backlogs? He said, ‘We have your account details; we will put it (the allowance) through.’ You may not like to hear this, but I can tell you the payment will happen at the end of this month.”
While the payment is a relief for corps members, SaharaReporters’ analysis of Nigeria’s cost of living crisis raises serious concerns over whether the amount is truly adequate.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average cost of a bus trip in Nigerian cities stood at N923.8 as of December 2024. This means a corps member could afford only about 83 bus trips in a month using their entire allowance.
