Inside NYSC ordeals, driving corps members to speak out

When Beatrice Okoh (not her real name) packed her bags for the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp earlier this year, she carried with her the excitement of a fresh graduate ready to serve her country.

What she did not pack for, and could not have anticipated, was sleeping outdoors for two nights, turned away from overcrowded halls, still unregistered two days after arrival, and waiting months for allowances she was legally owed. Her story is not unique.

For a growing number of Nigerian graduates, the NYSC year, long celebrated as a rite of passage for national integration and personal development, has quietly become a season of financial strain, logistical chaos, and unmet promises.

As frustrations deepen across orientation camps and service states, corps members are breaking their silence.

Tension mounted at the Lagos State NYSC orientation camp earlier this year when several corps members voiced frustration over what they described as a poorly managed pluralisation policy that triggered confusion and hardship.

BusinessDay gathered that the camp was severely overcrowded, forcing authorities to transfer some corps members to orientation camps in Ogun, Osun, and Kwara States.

A female corps member, who spoke on condition of anonymity and was reposted to the Sagamu camp in Ogun State, said members transferred from Lagos were denied kits on arrival.

Camp managers, she said, cited insufficient stock to accommodate the added numbers, even as those originally posted to Ogun received their kits without delay.

“We didn’t anticipate the number of people we have here, and we don’t have enough kits for everyone now,” one camp coordinator reportedly said.

More worrisome was that the Lagos State NYSC managers refused to respond to BusinessDay when contacted via phone call.

Multiple Batch A1 corps members described the Lagos camp experience as overwhelming. One recounted being forced to sleep outside due to a shortage of indoor space.

“The place is overcrowded, no room to keep corps members. We’re outside, no room to sleep. It took me two days to complete my registration,” he said.

The chaos was not lost on parents. One father, whose child was initially posted to Lagos before being transferred to Ogun, said the situation reflected a failure of federal responsibility.

“I think the government is failing in its responsibilities. We did not anticipate this kind of horror,” he said, recalling his own smoother experience at an NYSC camp in Niger State decades ago.

“If the government does not have the capacity to retain the NYSC scheme, they should scrap it. There are a lot of things going on there which were not the case during our own time,” he added.

Others noted the problem is not limited to Lagos. “It happens in almost all the camps across Nigeria. I experienced the same ugly situation in Katsina before we were moved into hostels,” one former corps member said.

Beyond the camps, the financial burden weighs heavily on those already in service. A serving corps member told BusinessDay that while the federal government has been consistent with its monthly stipend, several state governments have fallen far short of their obligations.

“The federal government has never missed a month for us, and I truly appreciate that. But please, how does a state government allow someone to serve for almost 12 months and only pay five months’ allowance? What happened to the remaining seven months?” she asked.

She described the inequity as particularly demoralising. “What hurts more is seeing some corps members paid completely while others are ignored; meanwhile, we are all doing the same NYSC service, attending CDS, clearance, and spending money on transportation every single week.”

The N15,000 monthly state allowance, she noted, may be modest, but its non-payment compounds daily hardship. “Transport alone is draining. Going to PPA, CDS, and handling daily expenses is not easy at all. It is honestly tiring and unfair. NYSC is already stressful enough without having to beg for what you are entitled to.”

Her conclusion was blunt: “I can’t wait to be done with this service year because the system really needs to do better for corps members.”

Nigeria introduced the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on May 22, 1973, through Decree No. 24, under the military administration of General Yakubu Gowon as the head of state.

The scheme was established in the aftermath of the devastating Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) with the primary goal of reconstructing, reconciling, and rebuilding the country.

The devastating conflict left Nigeria heavily divided along ethnic, religious, and regional lines.