Deborah Akinyosoye
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for the leadership of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to be investigated over the non-payment of the approved N77,000 monthly allowance for serving corps members.
NANS expressed dismay that NYSC is yet to implement the payment of the new allowance to the corps members months after approval by the federal government.
Recall that the government had approved an increase in the corps members’ monthly allowance from N33,000 to N77,000, effective July 2024.
The approval for the increase of the allowance from N33,000 to N77,000 was contained in a letter from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, dated September 25 2024 and signed by the Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, in line with the enactment of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024.
The government had, at that time, said the increase in the corps members allowance was with effect from July 2024.
The Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Yushau Ahmed, on January 30, this year, announced that corps members would begin to receive ₦77,000 as their monthly allowance from February 2025.
However, corps members have expressed disappointment that they still received N33,000 as allowance in February.
They described the N33, 000 allowance as insufficient for their basic needs in the face of the high cost of living in the country.
Reacting, NANS in a statement by its National Vice President, Inter-Campus Affairs, Akinbodunse Sileola Felicia,on Monday, justified the call for the probe of the NYSC for failure to commence payment of the new corps monthly allowance by the end of February as promised by the Director-General of the Corps.
She wondered what delayed the payment after the official announcement by Brig. Ahmed Yushua that corps members would start receiving the N77,000 in February 2025.
“Findings by my office revealed that corps members received only N33,000 for their February allowance last Friday, against N70,000 promised by the NYSC DG.
” This is even as we note that the federal and many state governments have since begun to pay their workers the new minimum wage of N70,000.
“The NYSC has no justification to withhold the payment of the new approved allowance to corps members whatsoever.
” It would amount to gross injustice on the part of corps members to still be receiving old allowance months after approval and implementation by the federal government, “NANS said.
While calling on the NYSC to give reasons behind the failure to implement the payment of the N77,000 corps monthly allowance, she insisted that the federal government should investigate the matter to determine the cause of otherwise of the delay.
She added that the failure to pay the new allowance to corps members could dampen their morale, especially in the face of the economic situation in the country.
The NANS National Vice President, however, submitted that “the leadership of the student body would equally interface with the NYSC to find out why corps members are yet to benefit from the new minimum wage of N77,000, even when staff of the NYSC are receiving the increase in pay from the federal government”.