The Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has pushed for the extension of the national service scheme, NYSC from one to two years.
The minister stated this on Saturday when the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.
Alausa said the duration of the scheme can be extended with the expansion of NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training programme content for corps members.
The National Youth Service Corps confirmed that the education ministry proposed the extension of the scheme’s duration to two years.
The NYSC, in a statement by its public relations director Caroline Embu on Saturday, spoke of its ongoing reform efforts to tackle certificate racketeering.
Olakunle Nafiu, the National Youth Service Corpsdirector-general, visited Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, in Abuja on Friday.
In 2024, a federal probe revealed that about 22,789 Nigerians were parading fake foreign degree certificates, which were then used to enrol for the NYSC scheme.
Nigeria, in 2024, initiated probes and sweeping reforms to block certificate rackets exploiting the system as a result.
Alausa said efforts are ongoing in the ministry to digitise the verification of foreign-trained graduates of Nigerian origin.
He said the ministry and NYSC would further strengthen their alliance towards the improvement of education for national development.
Alausa commended the National Youth Service Corps for digitising the mobilisation process to curb certificate racketeering.
The minister, per the NYSC, advocated for the extension of national service from one to two years.
This, he reportedly said, would enable the expansion of the National Youth Service CorpsSkill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) training programme content for corps members.
“You have done so well as an organisation. Let NYSC give people more opportunity to become job creators that will meet the needs of the country,” Alausa told the NYSC DG.
The National Youth Service Corps DG, Olakunle Nafiu, said the scheme is ready to comply with policy guidelines as directed by the federal government.
“We are also trying to reform the scheme to conform with the present national needs”, he added.
Nafiu called for the establishment of a database of Nigerian youths going abroad to study for degree programmes.
He said this would help the government have detailed records of Nigerians studying abroad and also eliminate fake graduates.
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