Corps members will no longer wear khaki as the Federal Government has approved Adire as the new uniform for the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC), part of wider reforms to redefine how the 53-year-old scheme operates.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, announced the changes on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’, a day after the Federal Executive Council approved a comprehensive reform of the NYSC.
He said the shift to Adire is intended to support local production and keep government spending within the Nigerian economy.
“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,” Olawande said.
The service year itself is being restructured. The orientation camp will now run for six weeks with more focus on entrepreneurship, vocational skills, civic responsibility and employability.
President Bola Tinubu said on Wednesday that the goal is to equip young Nigerians with practical skills for national development.
The minister also noted that the deployment is also changing, explaining that rather than a general posting system, corps members will be placed according to their qualifications and career paths after relevant training in camp.
He stated that teachers, for example, will be posted to schools based on the process they complete during orientation.
“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,” the minister explained.
He noted that security considerations informed the new posting policy.
Olawande explained that the government will prioritise posting corps members to areas where they studied or are familiar, particularly in states with insecurity, to reduce redeployment requests and improve safety.
“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 that ‘okay, who are those in that area, that schooled in that area, that know much about that area?’” he said.
He also clarified that the military will remain part of the scheme adding that while leadership will move from military to civilian mobilisation, the armed forces will continue to provide security for 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,” Olawande stated.
(The Whistler)
