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According to The Nation, the Director-General, National Youth Service
Corps, Brig. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim has said the scheme is waiting for
directives from the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning,
Zainab Ahmed on when to commence the payment of the new minimum wage of
N30, 000 to corps members.
The DG said that serving corps members would be contacted about the
payment once the NYSC gets details on commencement of payment from the
finance minister.
The NYSC chief stated this during the opening ceremony of a meeting
between top management of the scheme and representatives of state
governments on Tuesday in Abuja with the theme: “Optimising the potentials of corps members for national unity and development: The role of state governments as stakeholders.”
The DG also said that corps members would be communicated about the
payment of arrears of as a result of the new minimum wage which was
signed into law in April by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The NYSC DG said: “The minister (of Youth and Sports Development,
Sunday Dare) has announced it and further details will be given to us by
the Minister of Finance (Zainab Ahmed); this we are waiting for. I want
to assure that just as the minister said, the corps members also
benefitted from the minimum wage. The moment we get the details, they
will be contacted.
“We are going to commence the payment as directed by the Federal
Government. I have spoken to my corps members when I visited Jigawa
State about four days ago. I told them that they also have benefitted
from the minimum wage. And they were so excited and were praying for the
Federal Government, saying it will engender them to perform more duties
for the country.
“Once the government commences with the civil servants, the corps
members will enjoy the same. Our minister has directed that further
details will be communicated to us by the minister of finance.”
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, in his remarks,
said that the scheme has made immense contributions to the
socio-economic, political and cultural development of the country 46
years after it was established.
To sustain this achieve, the minister urged all levels of governments to
fulfil their obligations towards ensuring smooth operation of the
scheme.
The minister called for the creation of a conducive working environment
for the potentials of Corps members to be fully harnessed for national
development.
Dare said that he was concerned that the successes recorded by corps
members in the past were being impaired today by the inability of
critical stakeholders, especially states and local governments to fully
discharge their statutory responsibilities to the scheme.
“Reversing this trend will surely increase the tempo of
contributions of corps participants to the improvement of the living
standard of our people, especially in rural communities,” the minister added.