Samuel Felix Ekanem did his compulsory National Youth Service Corps programme in Oyo State. For his primary assignment, Ekanem was posted to Iganna, Iwajowa Local Council. On arriving in his host community, he said he was able to identify their needs.

Ekanem explained that having been to some of Nigeria’s most civilised cities like Lagos and Port Harcourt, the social amenities lacking in his host community were visible, as he was troubled by the environmental and air pollution that the community wallowed in owing to open defecation and poor environmental hygiene.

Ekanem, who served between 2019/2020, said the locals still saved their money in their houses because they did not know how to go about banking.

Though troubled, he was determined to make an impact in the small village. He thought of projects that he would do bring to empower the people.

The NYSC anthem kept echoing in his mind:
Youths obey the clarion call
Let us lift our nation high
Under the sun or in the rain
With dedication and selflessness
Nigeria is ours, Nigeria we serve.

Before he left the village after the one year programme, Ekanem executed multiple CDS projects, which addressed various needs, including socioeconomic and environmental/health issues.

“All the projects were motivated by the perceived needs of the community, and were therefore, entirely humanitarian as none related to my academic discipline. I studied Communication Arts, but the projects ranged from infrastructure to financial inclusion,” Ekanem revealed.

Speaking on the practical steps that were taken to sustain the projects he undertook after he concluded his service, Ekanem stated that while the financial inclusion project was a series of year-long campaigns in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria that benefited his audience right at the spot, among them primary/ high school teachers and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSES), he donated a sanitary infrastructure to the Council government, rather than the traditional authority, for maintenance reasons.

He stated that there was a contention between the traditional and political leaderships for the custody of the projects for their continuation. “There was a bit of contention as to who, between the traditional and political leaderships I should donate the project to. But I strategically handed it over to the local council government, which has the resources to keep up with the maintenance, and guaranteed they would do so,” he said.

According to Ekanem, he engaged in other projects, like extracurricular activities in his place of primary assignment that were geared toward improving the English speaking and writing skills of the students. He also set up a strong student leadership team and collaborated with the school leadership to ensure that incoming corps members were tasked to direct those activities as part of their primary assignments by the school, after his time there.

He stated that in addition, he trained the students to be able to run the programs independently, adding that the school always said they would appoint teachers to oversee those activities to ensure their continuation beyond his service year, cementing the programs in the school.

For over five decades of establishment of the NYSC scheme, the CDS has stood as one of its pillars, shaping not only rural communities, but also the civic consciousness of young Nigerians.

Conceived as a bridge between education and nation building, the programme was designed to immerse graduates in the realities of grassroots life, compelling them to contribute meaningfully to the social and economic development of their host communities.

From theatre productions that stirred public reflection to sanitation campaigns, educational initiatives, and financial literacy drives, CDS served as a channel through, which corps members transform ideas into tangible impact.

While earlier generations recall a period of intense commitment and far reaching influence, questions have emerged about whether CDS still commands the same seriousness and transformative power today.

For some, its essence has weakened; for others, its relevance endures, albeit in quieter but still meaningful ways.

Mr Abiodun Abe, who served in 1987/1988, recounted his experience as a corps member. “I had a swell time serving, and CDS was very interesting,” he said.

Abe’s CDS was in the area of drama. He stated that he was very active in drama in camp. He shuttled between Lagos’ two camps (Yaba College of Technology and the College of Education Technical, Akoka) performing stage plays. Abe emerged as the director of the state drama group and was also voted director for the national NYSC drama group.

“I emerged as director for the state drama group. And, I was voted as the director, again for the national NYSC group. I served as a director in two capacities. So, we were doing things, we were getting things done, we were engaging the community, we had our events, we were doing drama skits,” he stated.

Abe also spoke of the NYSC officials who assisted in facilitating the drama group’s theatre endeavours and also encouraged them. “These were individuals who would work into late nights to ensure that we had what we needed to do our art… These were individuals, you know, giving us all the encouragement that we needed. We never lacked anything. We only needed to ask, to say these are the things we need for our engagement and they would make them available,” he said.

Abe stated that he wrote a script that he and his drama group performed, adding that it was the first play that NYSC would perform at the National Theatre. “International Theatre Day Celebration, I remember we were the ones who performed at that International Festival. And it was a script by me, that we actually acted out, Tanimola, which was translated into English. And then we went further to present the same play in Yola, that year,” he said. He added that his drama group performed at the HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

The drama group made waves to the point of performing on NTA, the only TV station at the time, on a weekly basis. He said: “At a time, it was every Tuesday, then later, they went to secure another day, Thursday, for us, to have a repeat of what we had on Tuesday. So it was a huge one for us, and it was more recognised than any other TV because we were very active. We were all over the place.”

To Abe, the reason CDS has lost its impact is that “the world has gone razzmatazz.” He added that the things that used to make sense no longer make sense. He stated that trying to do the right thing would mean stepping on some toes.

He said that during his time, CDS was serious business, adding that no official was at the mercy of any Corps member. “At that time, it was serious business. No official was at any corps’ member’s mercy. You know, everybody behaved very well. And you know that if you miss CDS… you are joking with an extra year. And nobody wanted that. That time, it was operation-no-mercy… In fact, the supervisors were our gods,” he stated.

He lamented the societal influence that has made CDS less impactful, saying that parents always want their children to serve with ease.

He added that the CDS programme today is different from his time, adding that it was an honour to serve the country at that time. “We saw it as an honour to serve the country… So we were dedicated, we were committed, we were loyal, you know… There is no commitment, nothing,” he stated.

Abe won the award for the best corps member in Lagos, and the presidential award at the national level.

Similarly, Mr Yushau Shuaib, Founder of PR Nigeria, who served as a corps member in Delta State in 1992 after studying Mass Communication, recalled how CDS projects were once driven by deep research and a strong sense of social responsibility rather than the pursuit of recognition.

During his service year, Shuaib focused on advocacy aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence amid communal and ethnic tensions. He observed that many northerners were reluctant to travel to the eastern part of the country due to widespread misconceptions and mistrust. Determined to address these divisions, he embarked on awareness initiatives designed to correct misinformation and encourage inter ethnic understanding.

According to him, his CDS interventions were evidence based. Through research and community engagement, he advocated the establishment of a television booster station in Warri to improve access to information, noting that the available broadcast signals were too distant to effectively serve residents.

He also pushed for the creation of a local newspaper to strengthen community communication and representation. The proposals, presented to the Delta State government following detailed studies, were eventually approved.

Shuaib explained that his motivation was never tied to awards or recognition. “I undertook the projects because I believed in them,” he said, noting that he was unaware any award system existed at the time. His efforts later earned him state honours, automatic employment, and a postgraduate scholarship at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Reflecting on the present state of CDS, he maintained that the programme still possesses significant potential for impact. Drawing from his experience mentoring corps members within his organisation, he cited publications produced by serving corps members, including Anti-Drug, Anti-Smuggling Campaigns: A Corps’ Members Chronicle, co authored by Arafat Abdulrazaq and Tahir Ahmad, as well as Diplomacy and Digital Economy by Farouk Bala and Fatimah Usman, both of which received commendations from national institutions.

However, Shuaib emphasised the need for stronger institutional coordination between government agencies and the NYSC management. Corps members, he argued, should be deployed according to their academic training and professional strengths to maximise effectiveness.

“Don’t send someone who studied medicine to the farm or someone trained in languages to the bank,” he said, recalling that he personally rejected a posting to an oil company during service because his communication skills were not relevant there.

He further advised corps members to carefully study their host communities, noting that every community possesses identifiable challenges, regardless of size or development level. He encouraged them to seek partnerships with well wishers, develop structured proposals, and outline clear stages for project execution to ensure sustainability.

Ekanem who received federal recognition for his outstanding enterprise commented on what distinguished his project from other projects during his service. He noted that the NYSC has established the standards for what projects should receive that gravity of recognition.

He stated that as far as he knew, the Corps values fresh projects; projects that were proposed by the Corps member, obtained approval from the Corps, and executed from the foundation all the way to completion. He claimed that his project attained these standards. He explained that the programme needed to be relevant to the needs of the host community.

“But most important is the relevance of the project itself to the needs of the community. Does this project really address the community’s needs? Has such a project ever been executed in that community before, by a past corps member? Were you posted originally to that community and you accepted to stay there despite the environmental and social challenges in that community, rather than ‘relocating’ to a comfort zone? How challenging was it to conceive, design, source funds, and execute a project of this magnitude?

“All of my projects excelled in these questions and that’s what distinguished them from other thousands of projects by corps members around the country and across multiple batches and years. In fact, the NYSC was so impressed that they made a documentary of my project,” he said.

Ekanem agreed that CDS has lost its impact, adding that the reasons are disappointing. He asserted that most corps members do not understand the primary reason behind the NYSC. He noted other problems—structural and motivational—that are responsible for the decline of the CDS scheme.

“Of course, community development shouldn’t be done with expectations of any reward from government. In my case, I didn’t even know the Presidential Award existed and that I could ever be considered for such. But let’s be honest, since some awards were established to compensate corps members who demonstrate this level of patriotism; if I were the government, those few corps members would be so well established and celebrated that if one passed out without winning the award, one feels very bad,” he added. He claimed that this would be a motivation for other corps members, adding that some of the recipients of even the Presidential Award live in poverty. He also stated that even during the award ceremony, the recipients are awarded a paltry sum of money, and that it feels like the Governor ridiculed the corps members. He noted that this undernourished reward system deters corps members from taking on community development projects, as they would rather focus on building connections that would give them better jobs after service.

“When I was running around for my projects, many corps member said it to my face that if I was doing all those for government recognition, that I was wasting my time. They said that many did the same thing elsewhere and got nothing except ceremonial handshakes by government authorities, that’s for those who were even lucky to get to that extent. My fellow corps members reminded me of this every single day, discouraging me! I told them I was not doing it for recognition or something. And they said, then why do you suffer like this?” he said.

According to him, he was embarrassed at the “flimsy” rewards corps members got during his time as a corps member despite the award ceremony coinciding with NYSC’s 50th anniversary.

“The cash prize was so little that I never thought the President could pronounce that little amount of money for as few as 62 corps members who went out of their way to make the nation so proud. Thereafter, came the“war”to secure the supposed“automatic”employment pronounced personallly by the president. For example, the award ceremony happened in 2023, but most people only got enrolled in the national payroll in 2025. Two years after! That’s enough time for someone to even die of hunger,” he stated.

Contrarily, Daniel Ijogo, President of Charity CDS, Oshodi/Isolo Council, expressed dissent at the notion that CDS has lost its impact. He explained that it still has an impact, referencing the last project that his group undertook.

He noted that his group went for an outreach, teaching students on kindness and cleanliness. Ijogo explained that the young generation has no one to teach them about these virtues, adding that kindness is a rarity and people are suspicious of each other.
To encourage cleanliness, Ijogo stated that he and his group distributed stationery to secondary students who were neat. He stated that other CDS groups like the medical CDS have gone for outreaches where they impacted the community.

Ijogo, who became the President of Charity CDS in January, explained that he and his group have gone for two outreaches since he became president.

“We went to an orphanage. We went to give some moral support, not just moral support, also we gave items to support the children and even talked to them about love. We spoke to them, showed love, we played with them, we enlightened them on the basic way of life.

Just because they are orphans doesn’t mean they are not humans, they don’t belong in the society. They belong in the society. That’s why we went to show love and support, not just financially, we support emotionally and intellectually. We are still in contact with this orphanage home just to check up on the children,” he noted.

He explained that CDS has had an impact on him. He said he met new people while undertaking CDS projects.

Ultimately, the evolution of CDS reflects not so much a disappearance of impact as a change in its intensity, motivation, and institutional support. The groundbreaking achievements of earlier corps members like Abe demonstrate the heights the programme can attain when discipline, encouragement, and a strong sense of national duty align. His experience reflects a period when CDS was regarded as serious national work, driven by pride, structure, and accountability.

The experience of Shuaib further reinforces this legacy of purposeful engagement. His research driven interventions during service, which addressed communal tensions and expanded access to information through advocacy for media infrastructure, illustrate how CDS once functioned as a platform for policy influencing initiatives rooted in community realities. His continued mentorship of corps members and the intellectual outputs produced within his organisation suggest that the programme’s impact can extend beyond the service year when institutional support and professional alignment are sustained.

Yet, contemporary experiences show that meaningful impact continues, even in the face of discouragement. Ekanem’s projects in sanitation, financial inclusion, and education demonstrate that corps members are still capable of identifying pressing community needs and designing sustainable solutions. However, his experience also exposes the structural shortcomings that threaten motivation.

Despite receiving presidential recognition, he revealed that the ₦200,000 cash award he received was disproportionate to the scale and national significance of his work, noting that it could not even cover the cost of his transportation and resettlement after the ceremony in Abuja. His observation underscores a broader concern that while excellence is acknowledged symbolically, the material support necessary to sustain and encourage such patriotism remains limited.

What becomes clear, as Shuaib, Abe and Ekanem emphasised is that the true essence of CDS lies not merely in participation, attendance, or ceremonial recognition, but in the capacity of corps members to identify real societal problems and commit themselves to solving them.