The Federal Government of Nigeria has paid the monthly allowance of N33,000 to members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the month of February, despite the recently approved increase to N77,000.
The Federal Government officially announced an increase in the NYSC monthly allowance from N33,000 to N77,000, effective from July 2024, in line with the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024.
Multiple corps members confirmed receiving their February allowance on Friday night, only to find out that it remained unchanged at N33,000 — less than half of the new amount that was supposedly approved.
The development contradicts the assurances given in January by the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, who had publicly stated that the allowance increment was a done deal, awaiting only the passage of the 2025 budget.
“The Federal Government has already approved the increment of your allowance. It is no longer news; we have the approval in our hands. What we are waiting for is just the passage of the budget,” Ahmed had told corps members in Katsina State, vowing that by February, they would start receiving N77,000.
However, February has come and gone, and the promise remains unfulfilled.
While the government is yet to address reasons for the delay, the development has left many corps members stranded and frustrated in the face of a worsening economic crisis.
A corps member serving in Oyo expressed his disappointment, saying, ”How do they expect us to survive on ₦33,000 when everything is expensive? They told us we would get ₦77,000 this month, and now they have failed again. This government keeps making promises but never delivers.”
Another corps member in Kano lamented that the delay in the allowance increment is yet another example of the government’s insensitivity to the struggles of young Nigerians.
“We are serving our country, yet we cannot even afford decent meals. The government knows that ₦33,000 is not enough, but they don’t care. They keep making empty promises while we suffer,” she said.
