THE Senate Committee on Sports and Youth Development has called for an increase in the daily feeding allowance of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.
Chairman of the Committee Obinna Ogba made the call on Tuesday while presenting a Ministry of Sports and Youth Development report on the 2022 budget to the Appropriations Committee.
Ogba compared the allowance for NYSC members, fixed at about N600 per day, with the proposed payment of N1000 daily feeding allowance for inmates of Nigerian prisons.
“It’s appalling that prisoners who have committed crimes are going to enjoy more than the youth corps members who are serving the country.
“The prisoners should not be taking more than the youth corps members, because the feeding allowance for corpers is N600 per person a day while that of a prisoner is to be put at N1000 per day,” he said.
Ogba suggested that the allowance be increased to N1000 and called for better uniforms for the youth corps members.
He further condemned the amount budgeted for the ministry for the coming year, adding that it was insufficient to propel its development.
“Something needs to be done because the budget cannot take both the ministry and the youths anywhere,” he said.
Three weeks ago, Director-General of the NYSC Shuaibu Ibrahim had also called for an increase in the feeding allowance of NYSC members, noting that they were only entitled to N217 per meal a day.
Like Ogba, he also pointed out that prisoners in Nigeria are now fed better than the youth corps members who dedicate their time and resources to the service of the nation.
About a month ago, the Ministry of Interior sought to increase the feeding allowance of prisoners from N450 to N750.
The Senate Committee on Interior had described the amount as inadequate, increasing it to N1000, but despite the current economic situation in the country, feeding allowance for NYSC members has remained unchanged.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.