Is Nigeria’s mandatory youth corps still fit for purpose?

NYSC members complain of being sent to dangerous areas, poor conditions and little improvement in job prospects.

It was about 3pm on a Sunday in mid-May when 27-year-old Kelechi* looked out of the front window of the 18-passenger mini-bus taxi he was travelling in.

A graduate of the University of Calabar in Nigeria’s Rivers state, he was making his way to neighbouring Benue, which had become a hotspot for attacks by armed groups and bandits.

The Benue state government had banned motorcycles in the area and set up checkpoints along the roads. But as his minibus joined a queue of vehicles at a checkpoint, Kelechi saw a motorbike approach. The men on board were carrying guns. They opened fire, killing two people.