NYSC: Joe Abah Explains Committee’s Stand Against Optional National Service Tags:

Dr. Joe Abah, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Reform Committee, has explained why the panel rejected proposals to make national service optional and to introduce mandatory full military training for all corps members.

Abah’s clarification followed a critic, Muyiwa Saka, who accused the committee of rejecting the idea of an optional scheme.

Saka posted on X: “The main indicator that Dr Joe got that reform madly wrong was that retort about zero possibility of national service being optional… The refusal to explore that option only suggested it as an academic effort that satisfied everyone except the corpers involved.”
The committee did look at that option, said Abah in response, but turned it down on principle.

“The committee did look at that option and rejected it on the grounds that it shouldn’t be optional whether or not you serve your country,” he said.

We also looked at the possibility of compulsory full military service, and asked ourselves if we wanted 500,000 people trained in the handling of weapons every year, which the military cannot absorb. We rejected that option as well, before we end up with NYSC-military-trained non-state actors on top of all the armed non-state actors we currently have.”
Of course you can have a contrary view, he added. It doesn’t mean that those who don’t share your view are ‘madly wrong’.”

In 2025, the Federal Government set up the NYSC Reform Committee to review the 53-year-old scheme and bring it in line with the present needs of youth and national development.

The committee’s mandate involved reviewing policy and legal frameworks, stakeholder consultations and making recommendations for amendments to the NYSC Act.

The Federal Executive Council has approved a major revamp of the scheme that will include a six-week orientation curriculum, 11 specialised career streams and a shift to civilian leadership.

The reforms would make the NYSC “safer” through risk-based deployment and ensure “every corps member must leave NYSC better prepared for work, enterprise and national service”, said President Bola Tinubu.