The Director of the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies, Prof. Anthony Kila, has criticised the federal government’s proposed reforms to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), describing them as “a wrong step in the right direction” and calling for a complete redesign of the scheme instead of what he considers superficial adjustments.
   
In the alternative, Kila proposed replacing compulsory national service with a prestigious voluntary national service programme designed to attract motivated persons rather than reluctant participants.
   
Under the proposal, participants would choose postings at least 100 kilometres from their usual places of residence to encourage national integration, while considering contemporary security realities.
   
Among others, he said the programme would emphasise civic education, leadership development, physical fitness, basic military preparedness, emergency response, project management, community development and problem-solving.
   
In the meantime, the NYSC yesterday called on prospective corps members mobilised for the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream II orientation course to adhere strictly to travel and safety guidelines ahead of the exercise scheduled to begin on August 5.
   
The three-week exercise, which will be held simultaneously in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), will end on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
   
Accordingly, Call-up Numbers have been uploaded to the dashboards of prospective corps members, while Call-up Letters will be made available in due course.
   
Congratulating all prospective corps members mobilised for the exercise, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu, advised them to avoid travelling at night.
   
In a statement by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, Nafiu urged them to strictly adhere to all travel and safety guidelines throughout their journey to the camps.
  
The Professor of Strategy and Development made his position known in a widely circulated essay titled, “NYSC Reforms Are a Wrong Step in the Right Direction,” published across several news platforms.
   
Acknowledging that reforming the NYSC is both necessary and overdue, he argued that Nigeria in 2026 bears little resemblance to the country that established the scheme in 1973.
  
According to him, “there is no doubt that reforming the NYSC is the right course of action. The tragedy is that what has been presented as reform is, regrettably, a misstep in the right direction.”
   
According to Kila, the government’s proposals amount to administrative adjustments focusing on procedures rather than genuine institutional transformation, and failing to address the fundamental purpose of national service in contemporary Nigeria.
   
Using a striking metaphor, Kila described the reforms as “the elephant giving birth to a rat,” saying that Nigerians had expected a bold reimagining of the national service but were instead presented with modest changes that leave the core challenges unresolved.
   
He further argued that the reform focuses on extending orientation camps and introducing new training components, rather than addressing the more fundamental question of what national service should mean in an era shaped by technology, insecurity, entrepreneurship and changing patterns of work.
   
The don also criticised aspects of the reforms that he said treat university graduates as though they require another stage of basic formation after completing higher education.
   
“Graduates are not clueless street urchins waiting for the government to civilise them,” he argued, insisting that higher education should already have equipped them with intellectual discipline and professional competence.
   
Meanwhile, Kila warned that one of the most significant unintended consequences of the NYSC scheme is encouraging young Nigerians to manipulate the posting process.
   
He noted that many graduates begin adult life by searching for influential contacts, seeking preferred postings, or attempting to circumvent established procedures, thereby learning the wrong lessons about citizenship and public institutions.