The Federal Government on Monday approved a comprehensive reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) since its establishment in 1973, replacing military leadership with a civilian Director-General.

It also restructured the one-year scheme into 11 specialised skills-based streams, redesigned the orientation camp programme and uniform, and directed the amendment of the NYSC Act to give immediate legal effect to the changes.

This followed Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.

It is the first in three months since March 4, 2026, when the President swore in Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu.

Also on Monday, the Federal Government approved the establishment of a National Snakebite Research and Medical Centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State.

It also approved N128.29bn across five health and aviation projects, including the procurement of tuberculosis commodities worth N62bn, reproductive health drugs worth N25bn, 10 blood donation vans worth N6.9bn, and the construction of the Gboko airstrip in Benue State at N34.39bn.

Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Wisdom, said the reform process for the NYSC began in 2025 when a committee was constituted to carry out a full review of the scheme, adding that the outcome represented a fundamental repositioning of the NYSC from a mobilisation exercise into a platform for skills development, job creation, productivity and national growth.

He explained, “The NYSC was created in 1973 to promote national unity after the civil war. For 53 years, it has helped bring together Nigerian graduates and strengthen national unity. But today, our needs as a country have changed, and many expect the objectives of NYSC to also change.

“Our review found a number of challenges with NYSC, outdated laws, weak links between education and jobs, and concerns about the safety and welfare of corps members, among others.”

The minister noted that the Ministries of Youth Development and Education and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination worked together to develop the reform framework, adding that the council was invited to ratify the framework, the new organisational structure, and the directive to begin amending the NYSC Act and related regulations.

The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, who has oversight of the reform implementation, described the move as the first holistic reform of the scheme in its 53-year history and linked the overhaul to the administration’s ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

She said, “One of the important things on the basis of which we decided to embark on this reform process is that there is a need for us to intervene to build the present ambition of a $1tn economy by repositioning NYSC as a civilian-led, skill-oriented, productivity-driven and youth-empowering national institution.

“Indeed, as mentioned, the NYSC has been in existence for 53 years, and this is the first time there has been a holistic reform.

“The reform areas speak to all the strategic aspects of NYSC, starting from the area of the main area of deployment, how you are registering, what modality is being used to post you to several states, how we are recognising the areas where we have security challenges.”

She said the reform now segments the NYSC into 11 distinct core streams, which every corps member will be required to select upon registration based on academic background and personal skills profile.

The streams are the Agriculture Core, the Medical Core, the Education Core, the Technology and Digital Core, the Legal Core, the Public Service Core, the Infrastructure Core, the Green Core, the Enterprise Core, the Creative Economy Core, and the Paramilitary and Security Core.

“When you come in as a youth corps member, you will now pick which stream you want to participate in. Once you have uploaded and been recognised and accepted as a corps member, you are required to pick one of those cores, and once you register in that, certain trainings will be given for each of those cores within the two weeks,” Usman explained.

The orientation camp programme, she revealed further, will be redesigned from its current format into a structured six-week curriculum divided into three distinct two-week phases.

“The first two weeks speak to laying a foundation on civic responsibility, you will be made aware of what civic duties mean, our national values and leadership development,

“The next two weeks will look at career mapping, basic accounting literacy skills, business planning and access to finance, how do we access finance and then we intend to introduce a structured career day programme to enable corps members to engage directly with the public.

“The final two weeks, we intend to have focused corps-stream-specific training aligned with the corps member’s designated stream based on his choice, his academic background and skills profile,” Usman said.

She noted that for streams requiring longer certification periods, such as the Digital Core, where relevant certifications may span three to six months, corps members would remain in structured training rather than being posted to primary assignment locations.

“We want them to have skills that will enable them to be self-employed,” she said.

The new management structure will be headed by a civilian Director-General, supported by three Executive Directors and a security directorate to be led by a military or paramilitary officer, she revealed.

Responding to questions on the security implications of removing military operational leadership, Usman argued that the arrangement will preserve the military’s core protective function while transferring administrative authority to civilian professionals.

She noted, “We recognise that NYSC is spread across the whole country, and security is a core aspect of ensuring the safety of our corps members.

“The safety aspect still remains with the military, but the operational leadership of NYSC will be civilian-led, while security will continue to be anchored and implemented by the Nigerian military.”

She also noted that the Passing-Out Parade will be redesigned and renamed as a graduation ceremony.

The NYSC uniform, she added, would also be overhauled to reflect a more professional identity while preserving its distinctive character.

Usman confirmed that the Attorney-General of the Federation, working with the Ministry of Youth Development, has been directed to amend the NYSC Act and related regulations to give immediate legal backing to the approved changes.

On brain drain, the Japa wave driving thousands of NYSC-age graduates abroad each year, she said the reform was designed to turn the challenge into an asset rather than simply try to stem the outflow.

According to her, “Brain drain is something that we cannot stop as a country. We’re looking to see how we can produce more graduates that will enable us to have more,  and actually export and earn foreign exchange from the brain drain.

“What happened in India: they left, and now they are back to promote and support various areas within the tech industry; this is the model. The more we produce, the more we are able to retain and channel brain drain back into Nigeria’s development.”

Also briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, said the council considered four critical health items, beginning with the upgrade of the existing snakebite treatment facility in Kaltungo into a comprehensive research and medical institution with an expanded mandate for clinical services, research and training.

Pate explained, “The Federal Executive Council today considered four important items related to the health of Nigerian people.

“First was the upgrade of the snake bite treatment centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, into the National Snake Bite Research and Medical Centre in Kaltungo, Gombe State, with an expanded mandate for clinical services, research, and training to respond to the need that exists in our country for adequate attention to snake bites and snake envenomation.

“Snakebite remains a significant yet neglected public health challenge, particularly in our rural communities here in Nigeria, in the savannah regions, but also across the sub-region, and is especially hard on vulnerable populations, farmers, herders, hunters, women and children, whose livelihoods and daily activities expose them to encounters with snakes.

“We do have a large burden. Over 43,000 snakebites annually occur, many of which result in death, disfigurement, disability and psychological trauma with severe socioeconomic impact.

“This new centre will be an important new institution that will address the challenge, particularly in the Northeast, the Northwest and the North Central geopolitical zones of Nigeria, where the issue is most dire.”

He said the new centre would provide comprehensive, specialised care for snakebite and related envenomations, undertake research on snakebite epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and ensure sustainable access and supply of quality anti-snake venom through a full clinical and medical department.

“It will also partner with international institutions. This is a major step that brings an institution that will be the first of its kind in this country, but also in our sub-region,” Pate added.

On the second approval, Pate said the council approved the procurement of 10 units of compressed natural gas-powered blood donation medical clinic vans for the National Blood Service Agency’s zonal activities, at a cost of N6.9bn.

“Approximately, we require 1.8 million units of blood donations annually. At the current rate, we only get about 25 to 30 per cent.

“These blood donation vehicles can be deployed to mobilise donors so that we enhance the collection of blood that is critical for pregnant women who may require caesarean sections, for trauma victims, for patients undergoing surgery, but also for those being treated for cancers who require repeated transfusions.

“It is part of the effort to build infrastructure comprehensively for emergency medical services dealing with maternal health,” the minister explained.

The third approval, Pate revealed, was for the procurement of tuberculosis commodities.

He argued that the item reflected a deliberate pivot away from decades of dependence on external actors for the country’s TB treatment supply chain.

He said, “Nigeria is among the countries that have the highest burden of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a socially determined disease, a disease of those who are poor, vulnerable, a disease of poverty, malnutrition, comorbidities and poor housing.

“Until now, most of the treatment for tuberculosis depended on external actors. Now the Nigerian government is stepping in to procure those commodities and put us on a path to manufacture them locally.

“We don’t manufacture those at the moment, so the effort to procure by the Federal Government will ultimately lead to the manufacturing of anti-tuberculosis drugs, both the first line and the second line.”

The health minister said the fourth approval, worth N25bn, covered reproductive health drugs and commodities to be procured through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and distributed through primary health care centres nationwide.

According to him, “The procurement is to provide family planning commodities and maternal health commodities for those who choose to use them for birth spacing,  essentially allowing women to exercise their wish, if they so wish, to use family planning.

“This is also with a view to getting us on a path to manufacturing those commodities in Nigeria.”

For his part, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), said the council also approved the construction and development of the Gboko airstrip in Benue State, awarded to MESSRS CCECC Nigeria Limited at a contract sum of N34.39bn.

“The Gboko area, in particular, serves as an important hub for agricultural activities around the Middle Belt, and also, in particular, for security agencies who have had to look for airstrips and bases to confront the challenges we are facing around that axis,” Keyamo said.

He added, “It will also be a base for humanitarian activities and services and emergency medical services. That is how important that area is, and we thought it was important to put an airstrip there to confront and address these challenges of government.”

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The Borno State Police Command has deployed security operatives to Lassa community in Askira/Uba Local Government Area following the abduction of an unspecified number of students writing the National Examinations Council examinations by suspected terrorists.

PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the attackers stormed the school at about 9 a.m. on Monday, shooting sporadically before abducting students and women selling food items within the school premises.

Confirming the deployment to PUNCH Online, the spokesperson for the Borno State Police Command, Nahum Daso, said security operatives confronted the attackers, preventing a larger-scale abduction.

“Around 9 a.m. in the morning, ISWAP attacked Lassa Day Secondary School. They shot sporadically. An unspecified number of students have been abducted.

“Security forces confronted them. For now, we have an unspecified number of students who were abducted. The CP deployed the Area Commander in Askira/Uba. They are currently combing the bush,” Daso said.

The Special Adviser to Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, on Media and Strategy, Mr Solomon Kwamagar, a resident of Lassa, also confirmed the incident to PUNCH Online on Monday morning.

He disclosed that the attackers arrived on motorcycles and invaded the school.

“Today is Lassa market day. I was informed that they came through the market on motorcycles and went to Government Day Secondary School, Lassa. They shot and killed one teacher and took away all the students who were in their classrooms,” he said.

Kwamagar added, “Lassa in Borno State is predominantly inhabited by my people, the Margi. We are in both Adamawa and Borno states. I am from Lassa, but I chose to reside in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.”

He further said, “I’m still making contacts to ascertain the total number of students and teachers who were kidnapped from the school.”

Earlier, the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, told PUNCH Online that the attackers wore military and forest guard uniforms.

“Yes. There was an attack on students writing NECO exams. The terrorists came around past nine. They passed the military checkpoint. They wore military and forest guard attire. They shot sporadically,” he said.

Kaigama said one teacher was killed while another sustained gunshot injuries.

“They killed one teacher from Chibok. They shot another, but not dead yet. They also kidnapped some students and women selling on the school premises. The numbers are not yet out,” he said.

When contacted, the Chairman of Askira/Uba Local Government Area, Mada Saidu, declined to comment.

“I am very busy now. We are in a situation,” he said.

Efforts to obtain comments from the state Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, were unsuccessful as he neither answered calls nor responded to messages.

However, residents who spoke to PUNCH Online claimed that two teachers and one student were killed during the attack.

“They killed two teachers and one female student. The student was shot in her mouth,” a resident who requested anonymity said.

On May 16, PUNCH Online reported that 42 students and pupils were abducted after suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area.

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, had said the abductees comprised four students of Government Day Secondary School, 28 primary school pupils and 10 children abducted from their homes.

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The National Assembly is set to transmit the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking the establishment of state police to the 36 state Houses of Assembly this week, marking the next critical stage of one of Nigeria’s most far-reaching security reforms.

The development comes days after the Senate passed the landmark constitutional amendment, with lawmakers now racing to secure the approval of at least 24 state legislatures before the bill can be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramodu, disclosed the development in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, saying all the necessary arrangements had been concluded for the transmission.

According to him, the state legislatures and governors were already awaiting the bill following consultations held ahead of its passage by the National Assembly.

“The bill for the creation of state police will get to the states this week. The states’ speakers have met and are awaiting the bill from the National Assembly.

“The state governors are expecting it too, even with their presence in the Senate chamber when the bill was being considered and passed,” Adaramodu said.

The planned transmission signals the beginning of the final constitutional hurdle for the proposed amendment, which requires endorsement by not less than two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly in line with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution before it can become law.

Momentum has continued to build behind the proposal since the Senate approved the amendment after a clause-by-clause consideration of the report presented by the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.

The legislation seeks to establish a dual policing structure that will empower state governments to establish and maintain police services within their jurisdictions while preserving the constitutional responsibilities of the Nigeria Police Force over national security matters such as terrorism, border security, cybercrime, arms trafficking and other federal offences.

To address longstanding concerns over possible abuse by state governments, lawmakers incorporated several safeguards into the bill, including provisions prohibiting state police authorities from targeting individuals or groups for criticising governments and empowering the Federal Government to intervene in cases involving threats to national security, breakdown of public order or violations of fundamental human rights.

The proposed reform has received unprecedented backing from governors, speakers of state legislatures and major political stakeholders across the country.

The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria had earlier endorsed the bill, with its Chairman and Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, assuring Nigerians that all state houses of assembly would give the proposal diligent consideration.

Several governors have also welcomed the amendment, describing it as a timely response to worsening insecurity across the federation.

Among them, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, described the Senate’s passage of the bill as a landmark step towards strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture, arguing that state police would possess a better understanding of local terrain and community dynamics, thereby improving intelligence gathering and response to criminal activities.

Similarly, the Forum of Progressive Speakers of State Legislatures under the All Progressives Congress pledged to facilitate speedy ratification in APC-controlled houses of assembly while promising robust oversight mechanisms to ensure professionalism and respect for human rights.

The Labour Party also threw its weight behind the proposal, describing the Senate’s action as a significant milestone in the quest to strengthen internal security through community-based policing.

Though it acknowledged concerns over possible abuse by governors, the party expressed confidence in the constitutional safeguards embedded in the amendment.

The proposal also attracted opposition from the Peoples Redemption Party, which questioned the timing of the initiative and urged Nigerians to reject it, arguing that the current administration lacks the credibility to oversee such a fundamental restructuring of the country’s policing system.

Despite the reservations expressed by critics, the planned transmission of the bill to the states this week is expected to trigger deliberations across the 36 Houses of Assembly, where lawmakers will conduct public hearings, stakeholder engagements and legislative scrutiny before voting on the constitutional amendment.

If at least 24 state assemblies endorse the proposal, it will pave the way for President Bola Tinubu’s assent, potentially ending decades of debate over the decentralisation of policing and ushering in what many stakeholders believe could be the most significant reform of Nigeria’s internal security architecture since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Sunday defended the passage of the state police bill, insisting that its passage, which 84 senators supported, is a response to Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

The upper chamber said the bill emerged from years of consultations, public engagements, and broad national consensus, stressing that it would be wrong to delay the proposal for political calculations ahead of the 2027 general election.

The position comes amid growing debate over the constitutional amendment bill, with supporters arguing that decentralising policing will improve security at the grassroots, while critics fear that state police could be abused by governors to intimidate political opponents.

Defending the Senate’s decision in a statement issued by his media office on Sunday, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the proposal was “purely a child of necessity and not of political expediency as well as a product of national consensus and not of cynicism.”

He maintained that the establishment of state police had become a matter of urgent national importance that should not be sacrificed because of anyone’s political ambition.

According to him, the process leading to the passage of the bill did not begin recently but evolved through extensive constitutional review engagements involving key stakeholders across the country.

Despite some dissenting views, Bamidele said observations had shown that Nigerians largely welcomed the passage of the bill with the belief that it would significantly improve security at the sub-national level.

He said, “The state police proposal was part of memoranda submitted to the Senate Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. The memorandum had been subjected to a rigorous process and multi-tiered consultation across the federation due to its sensitive nature.

“During this process, the National Assembly broadly consulted the executive, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of the State Legislatures of Nigeria and the leadership of the Nigeria Police, among others.

“In July 2025, the National Assembly conducted public hearings in all geopolitical zones, and the participants overwhelmingly approved it.

“At each level of our consultation, nearly all stakeholders embraced the State Police Bill in the light of stark realities we are facing today.”

The Senate Leader said the Nigerian Police actively contributed to the drafting of the constitutional amendment by offering recommendations that helped lawmakers build safeguards against potential abuse of state police by political actors.

According to him, those recommendations formed part of accountability and oversight mechanisms embedded in the legislation to ensure that state police operate within constitutional limits.

He added that the willingness of the Nigerian Police to support the proposal underscored its strategic importance in addressing insecurity at the local and state levels.

Beyond the contributions of the police hierarchy, Bamidele said the bill was subjected to extensive debates in both chambers of the National Assembly before its eventual passage.

He noted that support for the legislation cut across party lines.

He said: “Even though the APC is the majority, there are members of opposition parties – PDP, ADC, NDC and Labour Party – that exercised their discretion in favour of the Bill, mainly in the national interest and not on a parochial basis.

“In the Senate, for instance, 84 out of 109 members voted clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06 per cent approval at the Senate alone.”

Bamidele argued that security should transcend political affiliations, noting that countries facing security threats often unite behind reforms aimed at strengthening national safety.

Globally, he said, security “is a collective public good that benefits citizenry across ethnic, political and religious divides.

“Political actors elsewhere always throw off their togas of partisanship and parochialism to support initiatives that will boost and reinforce national security.”

He, therefore, urged opposition parties to contribute constructive ideas that would strengthen peace and stability across the federation rather than oppose initiatives solely on political grounds.

Bamidele also challenged opposition parties and leaders to come forward with ideas that would deepen the peace and stability of the federation.

“Even when they disagree on some grounds, they are under obligations to provide credible and useful ideas that can make our nation better and greater. Unfortunately, they have not passed this critical test of opposition democracy,” Bamidele said.

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