The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is set to go native as the federal government has confirmed that corps members will now wear Adire instead of its evergreen khaki uniform. This development is part of the NYSC reforms recently approved for the programme, which began 53 years ago.
During an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, revealed that the decision to change the NYSC uniform from khaki to Adire is to encourage local production and boost the economy.
Recall that on Monday, June 29, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a comprehensive reform of NYSC since its establishment in 1973.
Speaking about how the Adire will be produced, Olawande said, “Adire is being produced in Nigeria. We have them in Ogun; we have them in Kwara; we have textile industries. Let’s put our money back into the country.”
The minister also stated that corps members will be posted according to their course of study, and not through general deployment. This will help to give them a headstart to their career paths using their academic qualifications.
Instead of having most corps members as teachers, it is only those whose academic qualifications tilted towards teaching that would be deployed as teachers. However, they will still go through the relevant training in camp, which has been changed from three to six weeks.
Olawande continued, “After leaving camp, you are not just posted to a school because NYSC wants you there but because of the process you followed in camp. That will determine where you are posted.”
The six weeks orientation camp will focus on equipping the corps members with vocational skills, entrepreneurship, civic responsibility and employability.
On Wednesday, July 1, President Bola Tinubu stated that the purpose of the reforms is to prepare young Nigerians for national development and practical skills.
