By Lawal Halimat 

The Nigerian government has officially approved an increase in the monthly allowance for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), raising it to ₦77,000. This adjustment will take effect starting from July 2024, as announced on NYSC's X (formerly Twitter) page in a statement signed by its Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu. 

The increment follows a letter from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, dated 25 September 2024, and signed by its Chairman, Ekpo Nta. The commission confirmed that the increase aligns with the recently passed National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024. 

This development comes after an advocacy visit by NYSC Director General, Yusha’u Ahmed, to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, urging the need for a revision of corps members' allowances. The last adjustment was in 2019 when the allowance was increased from ₦19,800 to ₦33,000. 

The new ₦77,000 allowance is part of broader reforms in the country’s wage structure. In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed the National Minimum Wage bill into law, raising the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. The decision followed extensive negotiations between the government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), culminating in an indefinite strike by the unions to push for a new wage agreement. 

This new allowance for NYSC members reflects the government's commitment to ensuring fair compensation for all workers, aligning with the amended Minimum Wage Act of 2024.