Employers of corps members have been advised to adopt stricter monitoring practices to ensure better supervision and productivity at their places of assignment.
This directive came from Chinwe Nwachuku, the NYSC Coordinator in Gombe State, during a workshop held on Thursday. Speaking at the one-day session designed for corps employers and management teams, Nwachuku urged organisations to introduce both movement and attendance registers as a means to track daily activities and evaluate corps members’ overall performance.
The workshop, themed Strengthening the Partnership Between NYSC and Corps Employers for Greater Mutual Gains in Gombe State, aimed to deepen cooperation between the scheme and employers to maximise the impact of national service within host communities.
Nwachuku said, “If a corps member didn’t work for you don’t give them clearance letter. We must have movement and attendant registers to monitor corps members.”
Declaring the workshop open, Head of Gombe Civil Service, Ahmed Abdullahi, encouraged corps employers to manage relationship and improve their welfare.
“Engage them in your various organisations. Even after providing them accommodations, visit them they will have a sense of belonging. The service is for a short period and begining of your life,” he said.
NYSC DG, Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, who was represented by Director North-East Area office II Taraba, Aishatu Adamu, called on corps employers across Nigeria to recommit to their statutory responsibilities, warning that growing negligence is undermining the Scheme’s goals and leading to widespread truancy, dwindling productivity, and increasing cases of service evasion.
According to him, the annual workshop remains a crucial platform for aligning perspectives, resolving operational challenges, and shaping policies that guide corps administration.
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“This workshop is a patriotic call to action. It is an opportunity to work out measures that will strengthen the long-standing partnership between NYSC and corps employers, with a view to curbing both old and emerging negative trends in corps administration,” Nafiu said.
Reaffirming the NYSC’s commitment to its mandate, the scheme’s leadership has reminded employers of their shared responsibility in ensuring corps members remain productive and accountable throughout their national service year.
Speaking at the Gombe workshop, the NYSC Director-General emphasised that the scheme diligently updates stakeholders on orientation timetables, informs organisations when corps members are ready for posting, and guarantees access to camps and deployment processes.
However, he noted that once corps members report to their primary assignments, employers are duty-bound to properly receive them, secure adequate accommodation or its equivalent, provide workplace induction, and assign meaningful tasks. Effective daily supervision, prompt monthly clearance, release for Community Development Service (CDS) and Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) engagements, as well as final documentation, are also required of all employers.
Raising concern over recent lapses, the Director-General decried a worrying trend where some organisations fail to meet these obligations, resulting in rising cases of absenteeism, weak work ethics, and dwindling community development initiatives.
He further condemned reports suggesting that certain employers actively enable corps members to dodge service requirements or tolerate indiscipline that undermines the objectives of the national youth programme.