The Federal Government has confirmed plans to replace the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) traditional khaki uniform with locally produced Adire fabric as part of ongoing reforms aimed at repositioning the scheme.
The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, disclosed this on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, saying the initiative would promote local production and ensure government spending supports Nigerian manufacturers.
“It’s Adire. Adire is being produced in Nigeria. We have them in Ogun, we have them in Kwara, we have the textile industry. Let’s put our money back into the country,” he said.
Olawande also said the reformed scheme would place greater emphasis on deploying corps members according to their fields of study.
He explained that graduates with education qualifications, for example, would be posted to schools based on their professional background rather than being assigned arbitrarily.
“After you are leaving the camp, you are not just posted to a school because NYSC wants you to be in a school, but because of the process you followed while in camp. That is going to provide a framework for where you will be posted,” he said.
On security, the minister said the government was considering posting prospective corps members to regions where they studied or were already familiar with the environment, particularly in areas facing security challenges.
According to him, the arrangement would ease security concerns among parents and prospective corps members while making the deployment process more efficient.
“If you have an interest in serving in the North-East, why not? But if you don’t, instead of redeploying you after camp and going through all those processes, we said let us identify those who already reside in those geographical areas and can still give us the number we need, since we want the NYSC to be more impactful,” he said.
Olawande also dismissed reports that the military would be removed from the NYSC, describing the claims as a misconception.
The reforms follow Monday’s approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of a comprehensive overhaul of the NYSC, the first major reform of the scheme since its establishment in 1973.
As part of the reforms, the FEC directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Youth Development to amend the NYSC Act and its regulations to give legal effect to the changes.
Under the new framework, the scheme’s operational leadership will be headed by a civilian, while the military will continue to provide security support for corps members nationwide.
