Cry for Equity: End NYSC Discrimination Against Part-time Students, NANS and NAPS Urged to Support the Fight

A growing chorus of concern among Nigerian polytechnic graduates has erupted into a fervent appeal for justice, as thousands of part-time National Diploma (ND) and full-time Higher National Diploma (HND) holders find themselves barred from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), robbing them of a vital rite of passage and career milestone.

In a impassioned open letter circulated to key stakeholders, Comrade Olubodun Abiodun Johnson, former Students’ Union President at the Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, has rallied on behalf of affected students nationwide, decrying what he terms a “draconian policy” that has left graduates in a two-year limbo since 2023. Once hailed as a unifying force for national youth empowerment, the NYSC scheme has instead become a symbol of exclusion and despair for these young Nigerians, who have met every academic requirement yet remain sidelined from mobilisation.

Johnson’s statement, released to Ekiti News 247 and directed at the Honourable Minister of Education, the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede, and NYSC management, paints a picture of profound hardship. Families have poured resources into these students’ education, only to watch their aspirations stall amid bureaucratic indifference. “Our parents have struggled to sponsor us, and we want to serve our country just like our mates,” Johnson writes, highlighting the emotional toll of delayed dreams and the sting of inequality.

At the heart of the grievance is JAMB’s staunch resistance to aligning with recent memos from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and NYSC, which advocate for the mobilisation and remobilisation of part-time graduates. Johnson levels direct criticism at Professor Oloyede, accusing him of failing Nigerian students and demanding immediate compliance with these resolutions. “It will never take anything from you to do what is right,” he asserts, urging the JAMB chief to step aside if he cannot facilitate fairness.

The appeal extends to NANS, NAPS, the Minister of Education, and even the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Affairs, imploring collective intervention to shatter the silence on this injustice. With the NYSC’s role in fostering national integration now under scrutiny, affected graduates vow to persist in their fight, refusing to be marginalised any longer.

As voices from institutions like the Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti amplify this call, the pressure mounts for a policy overhaul that restores equity and allows these determined youths to serve with dignity. For many, the wait ends not in resignation, but in resolute demand for their rightful place in Nigeria’s future.