Unqualified Graduates Will Not Participate In NYSC — DG

• NYSC Director-General Yushau Ahmed asserts that graduates not meeting youth service criteria will be excluded from the program, emphasizing standards
• Plans include extending the collection of graduates’ master lists to African countries vulnerable to document falsification, enhancing mobilization efficiency

Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has emphasized that graduates failing to meet the criteria for the one-year youth service scheme will not be permitted to participate. The statement was made during a meeting in Abuja with some Corps Producing Institutions in Africa, focusing on addressing challenges in mobilizing foreign-trained graduates for effective national service.

According to a statement signed by Director of Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, Ahmed underscored the program’s purpose, aiming to reshape Nigerian youths for national unity and development by instilling values such as discipline, honesty, probity, accountability, hard work, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance.

Expressing concern, Ahmed criticized higher institutions and school owners for compromising standards to achieve financial gains, resulting in the production of unqualified graduates. He urged a shift towards producing world-class graduates aligned with the ideals of NYSC, both in character and learning.

Starting from the 2024 Batch ‘A’ service year, Ahmed announced plans to extend the collection of the master list of graduates to schools in Niger Republic, Cameroon, Ghana, and Uganda, encompassing approximately 20% of graduates from the African continent. The initiative aims to cover countries with a high vulnerability to the falsification of academic and travel documents.

To address challenges in mobilizing foreign-trained Nigerian graduates, Ahmed disclosed that schools in Benin Republic, Togo, Cameroon, and Niger will now submit a project-bound master list of their graduates to the NYSC every service year. This practice, which has been in place for Nigerian schools for decades, is intended to enhance the efficiency of the mobilization process.

Director of Corps Mobilization, Hajiya Walida Siddique Isa, reiterated the NYSC’s commitment to engaging countries with academic systems deviating from global best practices and established mobilization protocols.