Ex-IYC President Urges FG to Convert NYSC to Agro-business Scheme

Former President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and current Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, yesterday urged the federal government to convert the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to an agricultural scheme.

Speaking at a one-day youth summit tagged: ‘Transforming Education’, Eradiri argued that as currently constituted, the NYSC scheme was not adding any value to Nigeria or the corps members.

According to him, “I suggest that the NYSC be converted to an Agricultural Service Corps, so that if a student graduates from a university, his energies should be channelled to agro business venture.

“If he spends one year, you can imagine the yield that would come out from the thousands of young people that are posted out every year for the youth service, because it seems the NYSC is not adding any value to our society right now.

“Why can’t we change that to agro-based service so that for one year, youth corps members should be into rice farming, sugar cane, cassava or cocoa farming.

“By the time the yields end in one year, no sane youth would be idle. He would want to implement what he learnt in one year probably in his father’s farm or his family land. So let us begin to change in line with the current reality, and that’s what we are looking at now.”

He called on policy makers to put on their thinking caps, stressing that the even the business of refuse collection has become so important that a former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, allegedly lost his re-election bid to issues surrounding it.