Many National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members are turning to loans for survival as their monthly allowance hardly gets them through 30 days.

In November, Nosa Onyeka*, a graduate of Biology Education, left the comfort of his home in Lagos to commence the mandatory NYSC year after being deployed to Taraba State.

Leaving home and moving into a new environment was an interesting experience for Onyeka. But the excitement began to wane months later, and he contemplated leaving Taraba and moving back home.

“It was interesting at first. I was testing myself in new waters. But gradually, the feeling turned into despair and anger and six months into my new life in Taraba, I thought of leaving for Lagos,” Onyeka told FIJ.

It was difficult for him to survive on the N33,000 allowance, popularly called “allawee”, that the Federal Government pays corps members monthly. What made matters worse for Onyeka was that the place of primary assignment (PPA) he had been deployed to did not pay corps members any additional stipend.

Onyeka had to strive for other means to get money to survive. The only viable option was to take loans from loan apps.

‘IT IS DEGRADING AND RIDICULOUS THAT GRADUATES ARE PAID N33,000’

Every year, thousands of Nigerian graduates register for the NYSC, a scheme established in 1973 by Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s military head of state at the time.

The country had just come out of a civil war. By deploying graduates to states outside of where they were born and raised, Yakubu Gowon hoped the scheme would promote national unity and integration among the numerous ethnic groups in the country.

Many Nigerians looked forward to their NYSC year because corps members were respected in the communities they were deployed to and some incentives came with the status of being corps members.

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The military government at the time paid these corps members a certain amount to support them. This became the monthly allowance.

Subsequent governments increased the allowance to meet the increasing costs of goods and services over the years. It was N19,800 in 2016. In January 2020, the Buhari Administration increased it to N33,000.

The inflation rate was 13.25% in 2020. It has reached 32.15% in 2024, reflecting an astronomical increase in the prices of goods and services.

Many corps members like Onyeka, who are expected to survive on the N33,000 allowance paid by the Federal Government and do not receive stipends from their place of primary assignment, seek other sources of income.

Some rely on relatives for extra sources of income, perform odd jobs and establish small-scale businesses, while some, like Onyeka, borrow loans from loan apps.

Onyeka told FIJ that he has had to borrow loans from loan apps once every month for most of his service year because the N33,000 allowance was insufficient for him to survive.

“The allawee is insufficient to live on. Food prices have doubled, if not tripled. You must go over your budget to eat three times daily. You can barely even save from this meagre allowance. There are toiletries and provisions to purchase. There is also data subscription as well as other miscellaneous expenses. It is never enough to be honest,” he told FIJ on Thursday.

The National Assembly inflated its 2024 budget by 75% and approved N4 billion for its recreational centre in December 2023. Members of the House of Representatives and Senators receive huge salaries and allowances, which is usually frowned upon by Nigerians.

Members of the House of Representatives also promised to donate 50% of their salaries for six months to fight hunger. FIJ found that they received 100% of their July salary despite making these promises.

“The National Assembly was getting humongous allowances. Still, workers could barely get a befitting minimum wage. It is degrading and ridiculous that graduates are paid N33,000 as allawee by the Federal Government,” Onyeka added.

Tony Olawale*, another corps member, receives a monthly stipend of N6,000, summing his monthly income as a corps member to N39,000. He told FIJ that N39,000 was barely enough for him to live by and he borrows from loan apps every month.

“N33,000 allawee is insufficient considering the current economic reality. It is very poor and should have been reviewed before now. It is insufficient for me and I have had to resort to different means to survive. I borrow from loan apps monthly. Other times, I ask for handouts from family members and do odd jobs around,” Olawale told FIJ on Saturday.

Dennis Brown*, a graduate of Information Technology serving in a firm in Osun State as a corps member, has a slightly different reality from Onyeka and Olawale. His place of primary assignment pays him a stipend of N15,000 monthly, summing up his income to N48,000.

He told FIJ on Saturday that he has borrowed loans from loan apps three times in his six months as a corps member.

DASHED HOPES

When corps members heard Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria, signed the new minimum wage bill of N70,000 into law in August, they were overjoyed because it meant their dreams of getting paid higher allowances had come to pass.

But their hopes were dashed when they received N33,000 at the end of the month.

Onyeka told FIJ that he lost hope in Nigeria at the time.

“I was elated when the president signed the new minimum wage bill. But I was disappointed and gave up on Nigeria when they didn’t pay N70,000 that month,” he told FIJ.

On Thursday, the Federal Government announced that it had increased corps members’ allowance to N70,000. This raised the hopes of corps members once again.

They hold tightly to the hope that the government would keep its promise this time and not dash their hopes as it had done before.

The corps members FIJ spoke to chose pseudonyms because they prefer to remain anonymous to the NYSC and their respective PPAs*