NYSC seeks 5,000-capacity orientation camps in states as corps population surges

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has urged state governments to expand their orientation camps to accommodate at least 5,000 corps members each, as the scheme struggles with a growing number of graduates.

The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, said the number of graduates mobilised annually had increased from about 100,000 when most existing orientation camps were built to as many as 450,000.

He attributed the accommodation shortage to the growing number of tertiary institutions and graduates, including Nigerians who obtained qualifications from foreign institutions.

Nafiu made the appeal while addressing corps members deployed to Lagos State for the 2026 Batch C Stream II service year at the NYSC Temporary Orientation Camp in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos.

“Currently, however, we mobilise up to 450,000 graduates. This means that the population we have to cater for is far beyond the carrying capacities of the existing structures,” he said.

He described the expansion of orientation camps as a sustainable solution to the accommodation challenge and commended state governments working to improve facilities across the country.

The NYSC chief disclosed that the Lagos State Government was constructing a new permanent orientation camp with a capacity for 10,000 corps members, which he said would address accommodation challenges at the temporary camp in Iyana Ipaja.

He also said Adamawa, Gombe and Borno states were at advanced stages of delivering new orientation camps, while existing facilities in Sokoto, Kwara, Enugu, Osun and other states were undergoing extensive renovations.

The Lagos State NYSC Coordinator, Christiana Salmwang, said 11,155 corps members were deployed to the state for the 2026 Batch C service year.

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However, only 4,380 were accommodated at the Iyana Ipaja camp, while the remaining corps members were sent to neighbouring states, including Ogun, Oyo, Edo, Kwara and Delta, to complete their orientation course because of limited facilities.

She clarified that all the corps members sent to other states would return to Lagos for their primary assignments after the orientation exercise.

Nafiu also urged corps members to promote national unity and integration, describing the ideals as fundamental to the establishment of the NYSC in 1973.

He encouraged them to participate in the scheme’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme to acquire vocational and entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance.

On security, the director-general advised corps members to remain vigilant, avoid moving alone without informing their colleagues and notify their Corps Liaison Officers of their movements.