Presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has said the time has come to scrap the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) because it has outlived its usefulness in its present form.
In a statement on Saturday, Sowore stated that scrapping NYSC has been his position since 2019, when he first ran for president.
He said the recent abduction of young Nigerians travelling to their NYSC orientation camps along the Owerri–Onitsha Road once again exposes the danger of compelling our young people to travel across an increasingly insecure country in the name of national service.
"You cannot force young Nigerians to “serve their fatherland” when the same country cannot guarantee their safety while they travel to their places of service," he said.
"The NYSC should be suspended immediately and ultimately scrapped."
Sowore advised that, in the meantime, all corps members should be given the option to serve within their states of origin. According to him, no young Nigerian should be forced to travel hundreds of kilometres into unfamiliar and insecure territory simply to fulfil a compulsory national service requirement.
"Under a #Sowore2027 presidency, we will replace the NYSC with a new two-year voluntary National Job Corps focused on real employment, skills development, public works, technology, agriculture, healthcare, education and other productive national priorities.
"Young Nigerians need jobs, opportunities, skills and security, not compulsory deployment into danger.
"The time to suspend the NYSC is NOW. The time to scrap this outdated scheme has come," he said.
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