A youth advocacy group, the Coalition for National Unity and Youth Development, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to suspend aspects of the proposed reforms to the National Youth Service Corps, warning that altering the scheme’s traditional structure could weaken one of the country’s key institutions for national unity, discipline and emergency service.
The appeal was contained in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the coalition’s President, Abdulrahman Sani, and Secretary, Grace Nwafor.
The group acknowledged the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise the scheme but argued that the reforms should not fundamentally change the identity of an institution that has served the country for more than five decades.
It called on the President to constitute an expanded committee comprising former NYSC directors-general, security experts, university administrators, employers, labour unions, youth organisations and civil society groups to review the proposals before they are forwarded to the National Assembly.
“We respectfully appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to allow a historic national institution to be fundamentally altered without exhaustive consultation. Mr President has consistently demonstrated that he listens to Nigerians, and we sincerely beg him to pause this process and allow broader stakeholder engagement before any irreversible decision is taken,” the statement read.
