Eta Mbora, a Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) member of the house of representatives, has introduced a
bill seeking to provide automatic employment for graduates after their National
Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
The legislation
seeks to amend the NYSC act to enable the military, paramilitary agencies and
other special services recruit willing graduates immediately after they have
completed the one-year youth service.
The amendment bill
scaled first reading at the green chamber on Thursday.
The NYSC act, as it
currently is, does not provide any employment window for youth corps members
after the programme.
In an interview with
TheCable on Friday, the lawmaker, who represents Calabar Munincipal/Odukpani
federal constituency of Cross River state, said the bill will help address
Nigeria’s unemployment problem.
He said if passed
into law, it would help graduates desirous of joining the military,
paramilitary agencies or special services to do so after they have completed
their NYSC programme, provided they meet the agencies’ requirements.
“At the conclusion
of their service year, there should be a process where the agencies will
examine those interested to determine their qualifications to be employed,” he
said.
“They should be able
to now enrol them after the completion of service; that is for those qualified.
That way, it can address the unemployment problem and job scams in Nigeria.
“Those willing to
join the military and paramilitary agencies and other special services should
be able to do so since they have served their country.”
Mbora added that the
bill seeks to officially increase the allowance of corps members to cater to
their needs.
He said although the
federal government recently increased the allowance, the action is not backed
by the law and will only be legal with the amendment.
Despite being
Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is very high. It rose to
23.1 percent at the third quarter of 2018.
The federal
government has sought various remedies to check this trend, including
introducing through schemes like the N-Power programme, but there is still a
big gap.
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