Increase corps members’ allowances, Crawford VC urges FG

Olurotimi Ajayi, the vice-chancellor of Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun, has called on the federal government to review the allowances of youth corps members.

Ajayi on Wednesday said that rather than scrap the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the government should make some changes in the scheme.

For example, he noted that youth corps members who weren’t comfortable with serving in any part of the country should not be forced to.

The vice-chancellor said that the NYSC scheme fosters unity in the country, hence, it should be preserved.

“The NYSC scheme is fulfilling its mandate and nothing should hamper its operations; if anything, it must be guarded jealously.

“The scheme was set up to achieve a target of fostering unity among the ethnic tribes in Nigeria, which it has been performing to a large extent.

“I will not in any way support its scrapping because aside that of unity, it also helps the youths to visit other parts of the country.

“Ordinarily, some of the youths wouldn’t have had the opportunity to travel to those places, save the scheme. But more importantly, t enables youths from across the country the opportunity to interact.

“Rather than scrap the scheme, government should look at the challenges facing the scheme such as insecurity, poor incentives and welfare of the corps members.

“Government can also try to look into restructuring the scheme for better efficiency and coordination; it can be made a skill acquisition centre for youths.

“Corps members that are not comfortable with some parts of the country due to security reasons should not be forced to go there because safety of the corps members comes first. The corps members’ allowances should also be reviewed to reflect present realities.”