Senate: Prisoners’ daily meal allowance shouldn’t be higher than NYSC members’

The Senate Committee on Sports has called for increase in daily feeding allowance paid to National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.

This, it said, was in consideration of the contribution of corps members to national development.

Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Obinna Ogba (PDP-Ebonyi) made the call in Abuja on Tuesday, while submitting the committee’s 2022 budget defence report of Ministry of Sports and Youth Development to Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Ogba said it was worrisome that corps members, who devoted their talents, skills in the service of the nation for one year, were paid N600 as daily meal allowance as against the payment of N1,000 daily meal allowance to prisoners by the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Ogba, who also decried the decreasing yearly budgetary allocations to the ministry, called for increased allocation of fund in its 2022 budget, given the importance of sports to youth development.

He said adequate fund was required to drive sports development, which ultimately would drive development of youths and the economy at large.

He said it was the responsibility of the government to provide enabling environment such as security, sports infrastructure, like adequate stadiums,
to attract investors and drive investments in the sports industry.

“Money is required for development of sports in the country,” Ogba said.