National Youth Service Corps

National Youth Service Corps
Formation22 May 1973
FounderYakubu Gowon
TypeGovernment Organisation
PurposeTo foster national unity & cohesion.
HeadquartersAbuja, Nigeria
Membership
All Nigerian graduates below the age of thirty
Director General
Yusha'u Dogara Ahmed
Websitewww.nysc.gov.ng
NYSC National Headquarters in Abuja
Corps members during swearing-in ceremony at a NYSC Orientation Camp

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory, post-tertiary scheme set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime of Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, to "reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil war".[1] There is no military conscription in Nigeria, but since 1973, graduates of universities and polytechnics have been required to take part in the National Youth Service Corps program for one year.[2] This is known as the "national service year". Ahmadu Ali served as the first Director-General of the NYSC until 1975.[3] The incumbent Director-General is Brigadier General Yusha'u Dogara Ahmed.[4]

Major General Suleiman Kazaure was appointed director general of the NYSC on 18 April 2016 and served as the 17th DG of the scheme until his redeployment to the Nigerian Army Resource Centre on 26 April 2019.

  1. ^ "NYSC - About Scheme". www.nysc.gov.ng. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  2. ^ Marenin, Otwin (1990). "Implementing Deployment Policies in the National Youth Service Corps of Nigeria". Comparative Political Studies. 22 (4). London: SAGE Publishers: 397–436. doi:10.1177/0010414090022004002. S2CID 154677894.
  3. ^ "A Cup of Tea From Yakubu Gowon". AllAfrica. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. ^ "JUST-IN: Buhari Appoints Dogara As New NYSC DG". www.leadership.ng. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.