Youth minister expresses uncertainty about raising corps members’ monthly allowance

Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, the minister of youth development, has indicated uncertainty about a potential increase in the monthly allowance for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members by the Federal Government.

As a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Bio-Ibrahim highlighted the government’s commitment to innovatively address the welfare of corps members.

In January 2020, the government increased corps members’ allowance from N19,000 to N33,000, following the signing of the new minimum wage bill into law by then-President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2019.

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Due to persistent food inflation and escalating living costs, youth in the NYSC scheme are urging the government to boost their monthly allowance, commonly referred to as “Alawee.” This plea coincides with the inauguration of a minimum wage committee by the President Bola Tinubu administration last Tuesday.

When questioned on Sunday about potential plans to increase the monthly allowance for corps members, the minister said, “We can’t say for sure, we all understand that resources are dwindling, even oil revenues are not as they used to be but we will find innovative ways of ensuring that corps members’ welfare is well-taken of. ”

Bio-Ibrahim further said, “When it comes to remuneration and looking totally at the holistic funding of the NYSC, we have announced a reform of the NYSC scheme itself. So, we want the scheme to go beyond that social programme of government to be that revenue-generating scheme and agency.

“The reforms which transform the NYSC into a revenue-generating agency and prepare the corps members for the job market and to be decently and gainfully employed or to be employers of labour through entrepreneurship and of course, perfect matching into the primary assignment and all the support they need in that career path.”

The minister highlighted that, as an immediate measure, NYSC has ceased posting corps members to unsafe states. Emphasizing a multi-sectoral approach, she noted collaboration with security agencies to ensure the safety of corps members nationwide.