The role of the NYSC in nation building

I recently found myself reflecting on my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service year. I had an amazing time, the Camp, the opportunity to lead my platoon, and living in a new part of the country was an unforgettable experience. Most importantly, meeting amazing and inspiring people. I recognise that a combination of fate—and perhaps an innate ability to focus on the positives of any situation—made my service year spectacular.

Regardless, I recognise that NYSC is a painful experience for many young people. Given the level of insecurity and the horrid conditions in some orientation camps, it is a surprise that calls to scrap the scheme are not louder. The scheme has been hollowed out by poor leadership, weak standards and corruption. Orientation camps have become an environment to orient you towards the hardships of Nigeria and make clear to you that the nation cares little about its youth. Postings became something to be “avoided.” Skills acquisition became useless. The whole service became a test of endurance rather than an honour.

The jewel on this cake of failure is the insecurity which left many parents and graduates desperate to ensure they aren't posted to any of the insecure states with bandits, terrorists, kidnappers or murderous separatists. In that chaos, corruption flourished—not because Nigerians are uniquely corrupt, but because the state failed so often it cannot be trusted. Let’s not get into the number of youths that die needlessly every year in transit to their NYSC posting or due to the failure of the state health care system. Until the Nigerian state can credibly protect lives, corruption will remain a rational—though regrettable—response for many families.

Despite all the shortcomings of the NYSC, I vehemently believe it is a necessary tool in building a Nigeria we can all be proud of. In truth NYSC remains one of the very few deliberate nation-building institutions Nigeria has ever created. NYSC was birthed in the aftermath of the civil war with a clear and noble aim: to foster unity in a deeply divided country. By deliberately posting young Nigerians, many of whom had grown up entirely within their own ethnic, religious, or regional bubbles to other parts of the country, the scheme sought to force interaction, shared experiences, and ultimately, a shared national identity. The logic was simple but powerful: you cannot build a nation of strangers, where sub-national identities outweigh a collective one.

For a time, this idea worked. Nigerians learned to live, work, and relate beyond tribal lines. Friendships and marriages blossomed and it helped shatter stereotypes. The identity of being a Nigerian became a tangible reality. What failed was not the vision, but the seriousness with which it was pursued. Today’s NYSC represents only a fraction of its founding ambition. The result is what we see today: a programme that exists in form, but not in spirit.

The largest manifestation of the very problems that led to the creation of the NYSC in the first place is most clearly seen in politics. Nigeria today suffers from what can best be described as clan politics.  Power rotates, but often within narrow ethnic or regional interests. Each group, once in power, seeks primarily to protect its own elites. I need to stress the fact that it only looks after its own elites and not the masses. A clear example being the fact that Northerners have held power in Nigeria (when calculated by days in power) for about 64% of the time since independence; however, this dominance is not reflected in key metrics such as state GDP, education, child mortality and other developmental outcomes.

This phenomenon is not uniquely Nigerian. It is what happens in weak states without a strong national identity and creates fertile ground for stagnant development and in extreme cases civil wars.

What Nigeria needs is not the abolition of NYSC, but its radical reform and refounding around its original vision: to unify the nation.

A Serious Reform Agenda

Orientation

One of Nigeria’s deepest problems is not merely economic—it is historical amnesia.

Many Nigerians know little about the collective story of their country:

• The pre-colonial societies that existed long before 1914

• The sacrifices and compromises of the independence struggle

• The figures who fought, failed, and persevered across regional lines.

• Any strong national philosophy or values

A reformed NYSC must deliberately teach shared national history. Young Nigerians from the North should learn about leaders like Obafemi Awolowo, just as those from the South should learn about figures like Aminu Kano—not as tribal heroes, but as Nigerians who wrestled, often imperfectly, with the challenge of building a just society. In order for this to be most effective it would need to start in the primary and secondary education curriculum, young Nigerian children should also be introduced to the work of Marcus Garvey, Frantz Fanon and Kwame Nkrumah.  

From Random Skills to Strategic Skills

Vocational training is not inherently flawed. What is flawed is teaching skills that bear no relationship to Nigeria’s long-term national needs. Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of either hairdressers or CCTV installers. What it lacks are skills aligned with a clear economic strategy. A reformed NYSC should prioritise skill acquisition around:

• Critical infrastructure and maintenance

• Industrial manufacturing and automation

• Information technology, software, data, and cybersecurity

• Agribusiness value chains—not subsistence survival

• Basic office ethics, discipline, and work culture

These are the sectors that attract foreign direct investment, build export capacity, and create real economic resilience. Education—at every level, including national service—must align with where Nigeria intends to be in 20 to 30 years. 

A pathway to foster Nationalism and Patriotism

NYSC camps should become far more ambitious than they currently are. They should be an oasis of what a great nation should be: clean, safe, functional, efficient, and fair. Every young Nigerian should leave orientation camp thinking:

“So this is what Nigeria could be if it were properly run”

That experience alone can reshape expectations and imagination. Nations are built not only by laws and budgets, but by what citizens come to believe is possible. 

Furthermore, I believe a longer orientation period of one—two months would allow greater impact. Thereafter corps members can be split into two pathways.

Track One: Civilian service which would entail working in the civilian arena much like what is currently practiced with a greater emphasis on working in areas where they are of service to the community.

Track Two: Paramilitary service. This would be six months of intensive service for those who choose deeper national commitment. This would involve:

• Greater discipline

• Military and emergency-response training

• Infrastructure, logistics, and public-works support

They should be given the opportunity to serve in a reserve capacity within the military and other security or emergency response agency.  This would be a great opportunity to install a sense of patriotism in a generation and also be perfect for recruitment into critical service areas. 

I believe this is essential  because we must make a generation understand that our rights come hand in hand with  responsibility. 

 In Conclusion

NYSC is not a perfect institution. But it remains one of the last deliberate attempts to forge a Nigerian identity beyond tribe and clan.

To scrap it would be easy.

To reform it would be difficult.

But nations are not built by doing what is easy. They are built by recommitting to serious ideas and executing them with discipline. If Nigeria is to survive as more than a collection of competing identities, it must once again take national service seriously—not as a formality, but as a foundation for citizenship.

The question is not whether Nigeria can afford to reform NYSC.

The question is whether Nigeria can afford not to.