Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was elected President, the nation’s youth development sector has largely operated below its potential.
For many years, the ministry responsible for youth affairs was merged with sports, and successive ministers often focused more on sports administration than on policies directly affecting young people.
As a result, youth development received limited attention despite the enormous role young Nigerians play in nation-building.
The National Youth Service Corps was established on May 22, 1973, under the administration of General Yakubu Gowon, who was only 38 years old at the time. As a relatively young leader, Gowon introduced the scheme with a clear objective: to promote national unity, reconciliation and integration after the Nigerian Civil War.
For decades, the scheme served as a symbol of nation-building, but over time, it gradually drifted away from many of its founding ideals.
