However, the measure, which also aims to make the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme optional for graduates aged 30 and above in order to acquire a Certificate of Exemption, failed to pass second reading due to heavy opposition, particularly from House members from the North.
Among those who have criticized the measure are Deputy Speaker Ahmed Wase (Plateau), Majority Whip Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ahmad Jaha (Borno), and Leke Abejide (Kogi).
The bill is headed ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Youth Service Corps Act, Cap. N84 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004, to Review Upward the Accommodation and Transport Allowances of Corps Members in Line with Current Realities; and for Related Matters.’
The measure, which is co-sponsored by Messrs Eta Mbora, Abass Adigun, Ben Igbakapa, Moshood Akinolu, and Oluyemi Taiwo, is the result of the harmonisation of Bills 716, 1305, 1657, 1922, 1945, and 1674.
Bills that propose similar or different revisions to an Act or the Constitution are normally harmonised by the Senate and the House.
Igbakpa’s bill sought to alter Section 2 (1) of the NYSC Act by replacing the word’shall’ with the word’may,’ making it read, “Subject to the terms of this Act, any Nigeria may -” It would also add the words ‘or outside’ immediately after the word ‘in’ in Line 2 to Section 2(1)(a) of the Act, making it read, “If, at the end of the academic year 1972-73 or, as the case may be, at the end of any subsequent academic year, he shall have graduated at the university in or outside Nigeria; or”
The bill also attempted to amend Section 17 (1) of the Act by inserting the following proviso: “Provided that any category of Nigerians who have applied to the directorate to be exempted from service shall be exempted forthwith and shall not be bound by any provisions of this Act that may affect his rights as a citizen of Nigeria.”
“This bill aims to alter the National Youth Service Corps Act, Cap. N84 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, to provide that national youth service is not obligatory but elective for those mentioned in the call-up document,” Igbakpa stated in the explanatory note.
Leading the debate on the measure at the second reading on Tuesday, Igbakpa remarked that the amendment tries to achieve three distinct things since the legislation is founded on the “changing facts of time.
“Because a corps member is considered to have graduated from a higher institution, the N30,000 (monthly stipend) granted to them now is a minimum pay threshold,” he added. In light of the current situation, it would be unjust if they were not provided anything commensurate with a graduate, a (Grade) Level 8 officer in the public sector.”
“Secondly, with the changing times, it is our belief that this exercise should no longer be mandatory, which is why there is an amendment we were proposing to remove the word ‘SHALL’ from Section 2 Subsection 1 of the principal Act and replace it with ‘MAY,’ making it optional for people to attend,” Igbakpa continued.
“The third: as at the time the legislation was written, it was in such a way that we did not consider our children learning overseas. Not long ago, a former Minister of Finance who had studied overseas and was over 30 came to Nigeria to share his experience. But something went awry because of the severe requirements imposed on the procurement of a Certificate of Exception, and in the end, we lost that intelligence and skill.”
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