The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to abolish the Joint Admissions and Admission Board (JAMB) and ditch the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in its present type if chosen President.
Sowore made the promise in a post on his Facebook account, where he laid out plans to reform Nigeria’s tertiary education admission procedure and change the current national service plan with a voluntary employment program.
“When I end up being President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, JAMB will be abolished. Admission into tertiary institutions should be determined by the institutions themselves under a transparent, merit-based system, not by another layer of bureaucracy,” he said.
The AAC presidential candidate also proposed changing the NYSC with what he referred to as a two-year voluntary National Job Corps.
“The National Youth Service Corps will be scrapped in its existing form. In its place, we will develop a two-year, voluntary National Job Corps that guarantees participants meaningful employment, useful skills, entrepreneurship assistance, and pathways into irreversible professions,” Sowore mentioned.
He argued that Nigerian youths deserve greater access to economic opportunities instead of obligatory government programmes.
“Nigeria’s youths do not require more compulsory schemes. They require chances, tasks, skills, and the liberty to pick their future,” he added.
Sowore’s proposition comes a day after the Federal Executive Council authorized a detailed reform of the NYSC, including proposed amendments to its enabling Act, the introduction of civilian operational management, and implementation of corps members based upon their fields of specialisation as part of efforts to make the scheme more skills-driven and productivity-focused.