Our reporter
The federal government has commenced the payment of ₦44,000 in arrears to former members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), sparking a wave of reactions across social media platforms.
On Monday, multiple posts emerged online claiming that ex-corps members who had completed their service were receiving the arrears as part of a wage adjustment following President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a new national minimum wage.
In July 2023, President Tinubu increased the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. As a result, the monthly allowance for corps members was expected to rise from ₦33,000 to ₦77,000. However, despite the announcement, many serving corps members continued to receive the lower rate for months.
Following public outcry and reports highlighting the financial struggles of NYSC participants, the federal government eventually began paying the adjusted ₦77,000 allowance to serving corps members in March 2024.
The status of former corps members, however, remained uncertain until this week.
At 4:39pm on Monday, a popular microblogging page on X (formerly Twitter), Nigeria Stories, reported that the payment of arrears had begun. By 4pm on Tuesday, the post had garnered approximately 1.4 million views, alongside hundreds of comments and shares.
While some online users expressed scepticism, dismissing the reports as misinformation, others came forward with confirmations.
“I think it is true,” wrote Abraham Ojogunwa, a former corps member, although he provided no evidence.
Another ex-corps member, Abibah, posted, “It is true, thank you so much,” suggesting she had received her payment.
Speaking to FIJ, Timileyin Akinmoyeje, a member of the 2024 Batch A, confirmed receiving the ₦44,000 arrears at 4:06pm on Monday. He admitted he had initially dismissed the rumour until the payment reflected in his account.
Another ex-corps member from the same batch, who wished to remain anonymous, also verified that the arrears had been paid to them around the same time.
It remains unclear whether this is a one-off disbursement or if the federal government intends to pay arrears covering the entire duration during which corps members were underpaid.
Officials from the NYSC and Ministry of Youth have yet to issue a formal statement on the development.
