LAGOS, Nigeria — Federal Government don announce say dem go pay backlog of new ₦77,000 monthly allowance for members of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after delay wey don dey since September 2024.
Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, confirm the payment plan during him appearance for Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. E talk say dem go pay dis new allowance wey include backward payment to both the serving corps members and those wey don finish the program when dem first announce the increase.
Olawande talk say, “You saw the new DG saying that you will get it, and they’re asking him a question ‘What about those that are going out now, are they going to receive it [backlog]?’ He said, ‘We have your details.’ The backlog, we will work on it and make sure it is paid. It may not be immediate but it will happen.”
This statement follow as Olakunle Nafiu, the Director General of NYSC, don assure corps members last week say dem go start to implement the new allowance by March 2025.
In September 2024, Federal Government raise the allowance from ₦33,000 to ₦77,000, based on the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024. Dis announcement excite plenty corps members, but as dem don dey wait for months now, frustration don dey build.
According to Olawande, the delay wey cause the wait na budgetary issues. E talk, “I’ve explained this several times. Some people said, I always say ‘It is a process. It is a process.’ But it’s seriously a process. It’s a government line. You cannot do a corner piece to do it. It was not in the budget when the president announced it, and for some agencies and parastatals, you need your salary to be in the budget before it is paid.”
Olawande go further explain say, “Before anybody can approve anything, you must have a budgetary allocation for it. But the budgetary allocation has been done now. We are done with the process and it has been approved. It has been signed, and now they can start paying it.”
