Despite assurances from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) that corps members’ monthly allowances would increase to ₦77,000 starting February 2025, the Federal Government has continued to pay the previous ₦33,000 stipend.

Multiple corps members reported receiving their February allowance on Friday night, only to find it unchanged at ₦33,000—less than half of the promised amount.

This contradicts the statements made in January by NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, who had publicly announced that the allowance increment was approved and would commence once the 2025 budget was passed.

He had assured corps members that by February, they would start receiving ₦77,000.  As of now, the Federal Government has not provided any official explanation for the failure to implement the increase.

With Nigeria’s inflation rate soaring and the cost of living rising, the ₦33,000 allowance is increasingly insufficient for corps members to meet their basic needs, including food, transportation, and accommodation.

A corps member serving in Oyo expressed disappointment, saying, “How do they expect us to survive on ₦33,000 when everything is expensive? They told us we would get ₦77,000 this month, and now they have failed again.”

Another corps member in Kano lamented that the delay in the allowance increment is yet another example of the government’s insensitivity to the struggles of young Nigerians. “We are serving our country, yet we cannot even afford decent meals.

The government knows that ₦33,000 is not enough, but they don’t care. They keep making empty promises while we suffer,” she said.