History tells us that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was established by Decree 24 of 22 May 1973, under the General Yakubu Gowon-led military administration, as a bridge to reconnect a fractured nation after a devastating civil war. The scheme was initiated “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity.”
There is no doubt about the intention behind the establishment of the scheme, which was to inculcate in Nigerian youths the mindset of selfless service to the community and to embrace the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians.
The scheme celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, and some people who have not witnessed the bad side of the scheme commented that it has provided opportunities for cross-cultural interactions and established a bridge for improved understanding.
Yes, some people would argue that the scheme has benefited many young graduates, ranging from skill acquisition to entrepreneurship development, which has provided free practical training in over 20 vocational and entrepreneurial tracks. Yes, the present government has also approved 50,000 additional NYSC slots for 2026 to benefit from Bank of Industry MSME loans of up to N5 million; this is to close the unemployment gap in Nigeria, while more than 3.18 million Corps members, according to the NBS, have completed entrepreneurship and workplace readiness training since 2012. The figures stated here are indicators of the benefits derived by youths when the scheme is functioning properly and is genuinely tailored towards Nigerian youths.
Now, it is very glaring that such a bridge of cultural and religious connectivity has become a perilous crossing for the very youths it was designed to serve. The scheme, which was graciously celebrated in its early existence, has morphed into a source of sleepless nights for parents from the North to the South and the Eastern part of the country. Corps members are kidnapped, maimed, and killed in the process of serving their fatherland. The major concern and the question before the government is this: can a scheme designed to unite Nigeria continue to do so when the act of service itself has become a death trap for the citizens of this honoured country, Nigeria?
The basic obstacles to the scheme, which are not only stumbling blocks but life-threatening issues, are kidnapping and accidents.
Dangerously, kidnapping has become the greatest threat to the scheme, and the data here attest to it:
In August 2023, available data stated that eight Corps members from Akwa Ibom State were abducted in Zamfara State while on the road from Uyo to their orientation camp; they spent months, some nearly a year, in the hands of their captors, and they were later released through the combined effort of Nigerian security agencies.
In another incident in August 2025, a corps member was kidnapped in Abuja, with a N1 million ransom demanded for her release. In September 2025, Peace Udoka-NBA, a corps member, was kidnapped along the Lokoja–Okene highway while travelling from Abuja to Benin City.
Also, Rofiat Lawal, a corps member abducted along the Benin–Ore Expressway in 2025, recounted how she was threatened with being forced into marriage and taken to Sokoto by her abductor. She spent four days in captivity, subjected to trekking through the forest at night, and was eventually released after her family’s financial intervention for her release.
Also, in October 2026, 19 prospective Corps members coming from Ibadan to Abia State were abducted along the road between Anambra and Abia States. They were later released through the combined effort of security agencies, though they were too demoralised to continue serving their fatherland.
The second life-threatening issue that has affected the existence of the scheme is road accidents.
Available data revealed that in March 2023, Juliana Oreoluwa Aina was killed in Lagos when a bus collided with a train at the PWD area of the state; her family remains devastated till date, while Sanni Mariam, a 26-year-old corps member, met her untimely death along the road in Imo State in December 2023.
In January 2024 and May 2024, Mamudo Sa’idu Obaje, a corps member serving in Katsina, met his death in a road accident at Gayaza in Kankia Local Government Area, while Esla Adam, a serving corps member in Nasarawa State, died in a motor accident along the Akwanga–Lafia Expressway, pathetically, six days before his wedding introduction. What a bad incident!
The data provided above are not to remind their families or the victims of past experiences, but to call the attention of the government to the need to restructure the scheme, as the human costs of the tragedies cannot be measured in naira. Parents who invested so much emotional and financial resources in their children’s lives up to graduation would feel only the pain and agony brought to the family as a result of serving their fatherland.
In actual fact, when corps members die in the process of serving their fatherland, their families sometimes receive insurance cheques, as was done for the families of Juliana Oreoluwa Aina and Thomas Ukeyima, who died in auto crashes in Lagos and Plateau States respectively. But wait a minute: can compensation for the loss of a child be enough, particularly when such a loss could have been prevented?
The path forward to safeguard the lives of the innocent graduates of Nigeria in the name of serving their fatherland should include, but not be limited to, the following:
First, risk-based, geopolitical deployment should be considered, whereby each corps member is allowed to serve within his or her geopolitical zone, and those from neighbouring states within the same geographical zone should be allowed to retain their zones to serve. This is to allow a corps member to serve within the state or, perhaps, in their geopolitical zone unless they consent to serve outside their region. It will address the emotional and financial devastation parents face when a child is harmed in a faraway location where they have no support network. A parent whom I interviewed stated that the family had to embark on fasting and prayers for almost a month for each of their children’s service days. A father said, “My son is coming back to Nigeria for NYSC service, and I have to embark on fasting and prayers because of such a government policy that should have been made optional.”
Secondly, the government, through the DG of NYSC, should conduct mandatory security risk assessments for all states of the country before allowing corps deployment, while states with high risk should not be considered for youth deployment; instead, deployment should be allowed to take place within their state for such a period. Legislative enforcement is necessary for the government to provide for such a policy.
Thirdly, corps members should receive comprehensive and robust insurance policies, with full compensation for the family in case of death or irredeemable disability. A dedicated fund should be available for any corps members who are kidnapped, and psychological support should be provided.
Fourthly, the government should replace the compulsory deployment model with a compulsory tech- and skill-based alternative service, whereby corps members will compulsorily learn one tech skill or another through any certification company within the geopolitical zone or remotely from outside the geopolitical zone. They would undergo intensive training in artificial intelligence, software development, digital marketing, renewable energy, and other high-demand skills at a well-established organisation in the region without cross-country posting. Surely, it would meet the service-year deployment objectives and, by eradicating travel-related security risks, Nigeria would develop technologically.
The fifth recommendation is for the NYSC to coordinate with transport companies to ensure corps members travel only in accredited transportation companies with security escorts to their orientation camp, and night travel should be totally banned for Corps members across the country.
The last on the list of recommendations is for the government to urgently amend the NYSC Act to reflect all the recommendations and other measures for a more effective and security-risk-free scheme.
To the families of the twenty devastated by the loss or abduction of corps members, the study documents your agony: twenty families, twenty broken hearts.
1. The Akande Family: Mrs Alimot Akande’s daughter was among 19 prospective corps members abducted in October 2026 while travelling from Ibadan to Abia State.
2. The Lawal Family: Rofiat Lawal was abducted along the Benin–Ore Expressway in 2025; her family paid ₦1.1 million after negotiations.
3. The Bassey Family: Daniel Etim Bassey was among eight corps members abducted in Zamfara State in August 2023 and held for months.
4. The Udofia Family: Obong Victor Udofia was abducted in the same Zamfara incident and rescued in February 2024.
5. The Sandy Family: Abigail Peter Sandy was abducted in Zamfara and rescued in December 2023.
6. The Thomas Family: Glory Etukudo Thomas was abducted in Zamfara and regained freedom in June 2024.
7. The Esudue Family: Emmanuel Emmanuel Esudue was the first of the Zamfara eight to be rescued, on August 30, 2023.
8. The Udoka Family: Victoria Bassey Udoka was rescued on October 20, 2023, after months in captivity.
9. The Ikan Family: Sabbath Anyaewe Ikan was among the Zamfara eight abducted in 2023.
10. The Aina Family: Juliana Oreoluwa Aina was killed in the Lagos train accident in March 2023; her family received insurance cheques from the NYSC.
11. The Obaje Family: Mamudo Sa’idu Obaje died in a motor accident in Katsina in January 2024 while travelling from Kaduna to Katsina.
12. The Adams Family: Esla Adams died in a motor accident along the Akwanga–Lafia Expressway in May 2024, just six days before his wedding introduction.
13. The Ukeyima Family: Thomas Ukeyima died in an auto crash in Plateau State; his mother received ₦2 million in support.
14. The Suleiman Family: Suleiman Juliet, an indigene of Kaduna State, died in the Adamawa road crash of June 2026.
15. The Shuaibu Family: Usman Shuaibu, also from Kaduna State, died in the same Adamawa crash.
16. The Ebal Family: Tayachibiyacha Ebal died at the NYSC orientation camp in Kebbi State in December 2024.
17. The Amadi Family: Hilda Eva Amadi died following injuries sustained during a Man O’ War exercise at the NYSC camp in Kwara State in February 2023.
18. The Mariam Family: Sanni Mariam, a 26-year-old corps member of the 2023 Batch C Stream 2, died in a road accident in Imo State in December 2023.
19. The Esther Family: Miss Akande Abosede Esther was kidnapped in Abuja in August 2025; her abductors demanded ₦1 million.
20. The Udoka-NBA Family: Peace Udoka-NBA was kidnapped along the Lokoja–Okene highway in September 2025 while travelling from Abuja to Benin City.
In conclusion, the NYSC was established on the grand ideal of fostering unity, but no family has invested so much in their children up to university graduation only to have them kidnapped in the name of serving their fatherland. No family should endure the agony of receiving ransom demands from kidnappers instead of a phone call from their son or daughter. It is a belief that the founding fathers could have envisaged that travelling by road in Nigeria, from Osogbo to Kano, from Obaagun to Enugu, or from Akwanga to Lagos, would become a life-threatening issue.
It is therefore high time for the government to expedite action on reforming the NYSC, and the choice is not to scrap or keep the scheme but to give it urgent attention, reform it, and muster the political will to implement the suggestions herein. The “Service and Humility” motto of the NYSC should not become “Service and Sacrifice” in the most literal and tragic sense. Parents expect the government to guide their children away from a service that buries them instead of a service that builds them. May Almighty God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
0 Comments