Prominent pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has alleged that the federal ministry of youth development and the National Youth Service Corps scheme(NYSC) have failed to fulfil their promise to pay the BACKLOGS of the improved monthly allowance of N77, 000 to over 618, 000 corpers who were promised but were never paid until they passed out in January 2025.
HURIWA accuses the government of shortchanging these following groups of NYSC Corpers of year 2024 who left without picking up the improved allowances as follows: Batch A stream 1: 15th February; Batch A stream 2: 17th April; Batch B stream 1: 26th June; Batch B stream 2: 31st July; Batch C Stream 1: 23rd October; Batch C Stream 2: 21st November just as the total number of corpers been owed is estimated to be around103,000 x 6= 618,000 corpers. Specifically, the Federal Government increased corps members allowance in September of last year. But it was not implemented despite repeated promises until March 2025. Then around March 24th 2025, the government began implementation of the payment of the improved allowances of N77, 000 per month per corper.
HURIWA recalled that after several months of delay, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) had a reason to smile as the Federal Government in March 2025 promised to pay the backlog of the new ₦77,000 monthly allowance that month which was actually implemented.
The Federal Government increased corps members’ allowance from ₦33,000 to ₦77, 000 in September 2024. Despite repeated promises and backlash since the increment, took ages to be paid only around March of 2025.
However, serving corps members and those in the scheme when the increment was announced in September 2024 will receive a backdated payment.
HURIWA said that the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, gave this assurance when he was featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“You saw the new DG saying that ‘You will get it,’ and they’re asking him a question: ‘What about those that are going out now, are they going to receive it [backlog]?’ He said, ‘We have your details’,” the minister said.
HURIWA however accuses the federal ministry of youth development and the hierarchy of the NYSC of shortchanging hundreds of thousands of corpers who served and left without getting the improved allowances just as their backlogs are yet to be paid from September of last year.
The youth minister had in March said: “The backlog, we will work on it and make sure it is paid. It may not be immediate, but it will happen,” Olawande assured.
‘It’s Seriously a Process’
In September 2024, the Federal Government announced a new allowance for NYSC members better known as corpers, much to the excitement of the participants of the youth scheme.
It said the increment was in line with the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024.
Just before serving corpers got their new allowances, the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Olakunle Nafiu, asked corps members to expect the implementation of the new allowance in March, a move Olawande corroborated during the show.
“It will happen,” the minister said when asked if the corps members would start getting now-delayed allowance from this month.
According to the minister, the delay in the implementation of the new NYSC members’ allowance is due to budgetary issues.
“I’ve explained this several times. Some people said I always say, ‘It is a process. It is a process.’ But it’s seriously a process. It’s a government line. You cannot do a corner piece to it. It was not in the budget when the president announced it, and for some agencies and parastatals, you need your salary to be in the budget before it is paid,” the youth development minister said.
“Before anybody can approve anything, you must have a budgetary allocation for it. But the budgetary allocation has been done now. We are done with the process, and it has been approved. It has been signed, and now they can start paying it.”
HURIWA is therefore calling on the federal minister of youth development and the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC) to explain to Nigerians why those backlogs were not paid even in May of 2025.
HURIWA affirmed that: “Government built on transparency and accountability would have come back to Nigerians through the media of mass communication to offer acceptable and verifiable reasons why both the ministry of youth development and the NYSC management spectacularly failed to keep to the sacred promise of paying these backlogs to corpers who served Nigeria meritorious and are now in the job market searching for employment opportunities”.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). May 21st 2025.
