By Titilope Adako
The Nigerian government has commenced payment of the new N77,000 monthly allowance for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members after months of delays that sparked frustration and protests.
Several corps members confirmed receiving credit alerts reflecting the increased stipend on Wednesday afternoon, marking the end of a prolonged wait.
This comes after Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, assured Nigerians during a Channels TV interview that the backlog would be cleared by the end of March.
For months, the government had cited budgetary constraints and bureaucratic bottlenecks as reasons for the delay.
Olawande explained that while President Bola Tinubu had approved the increment months ago, the required budgetary allocations were not in place at the time.
“Anybody can approve anything, but you must have a budgetary allocation for it. Now, they are done with the process. It has been approved and signed. Now, they can start taking it,” he said.
Many corps members had been sceptical about the government’s commitment, especially regarding those who had already completed their service.
Addressing this, Olawande reiterated that the backlog would be paid.
“You saw the new DG when they asked him, what about those who are going out now? Are they going to receive their backlogs? He said, ‘We have your account details; we will put it (the allowance) through.’ You may not like to hear this, but I can tell you the payment will happen at the end of this month,” he stated.
While the payment brings relief, concerns persist over its adequacy amid Nigeria’s rising cost of living.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average cost of a bus trip in Nigerian cities stood at N923.8 as of December 2024, meaning a corps member could afford only about 83 trips in a month if they spent their entire allowance on transportation.
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