Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) has called on the federal government to consider suspending the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp exercises for two years.
In a report presented to President Muhammadu Buhari last week, the committee advised the suspension of the NYSC programme for a minimum of two calendar years.
In March, NYSC camps were shut and participating youths from various parts of the country and officials were asked to go home following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
It is unclear if the government would pay heed to the recommendations of the VP’s committee. The NYSC scheme was set up in 1973 to promote national integration following the end of the Biafran War three years earlier.
As at 2019, close to 5 million Nigerians have participated in the programme that allows graduates of higher institutions across the country to travel to other regions for one year of mandatory service to fatherland.
