By Folasade Akpan
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it will strengthen controls over mobilisation from admission through graduation to prevent record manipulation and ensure only eligible graduates are mobilised for national service.
The Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, said this on Friday in Abuja at the 2026 Batch ‘C’ Pre-Mobilisation Workshop, which focused on accountability, data integrity and effective mobilisation practices for NYSC operations.
The workshop had “Strengthening Institutional Accountability, Data Integrity and Digital Innovation for Seamless NYSC Mobilisation,” as its theme, with stakeholders examining measures to improve the exercise and strengthen accountability across institutions.
According to him, the integrity of mobilisation data must be treated as a strategic responsibility by all Corps Producing Institutions (CPIs) involved in preparing graduates for national service delivery across institutions.
Nafiu said the NYSC had identified inaccurate personal records, unauthorised alterations after Senate or Academic Board approval, uploading unqualified persons, record manipulation and delayed submission of approved graduation lists as challenges.
He said those lapses not only generated complaints and increased operational costs but also disrupted the mobilisation calendar, with implications for national planning and effective deployment of corps members nationwide.
“Data management must therefore be treated as a strategic responsibility from admission through graduation and final mobilisation. Reliable data produces reliable outcomes,” Nafiu said, emphasising institutional responsibility across CPIs.
The director-general said the NYSC would continue to deploy technology to reduce manual interventions, improve transparency and enhance efficiency in mobilising hundreds of thousands of Nigerian graduates annually nationwide across institutions.
He, however, cautioned that technology alone could not address weaknesses arising from poor governance or institutional indiscipline, urging stakeholders to strengthen controls alongside digital systems, governance measures and institutional discipline nationwide.
“As we expand our digital infrastructure, stakeholders must strengthen the digital competence of personnel, improve cybersecurity awareness, protect institutional databases and embrace responsible innovation,” he said, urging stronger safeguards and accountability.
Nafiu said there must be zero tolerance for negligence, manipulation of records, abuse of process and other practices capable of compromising the integrity of the mobilisation exercise across all CPIs nationwide.
He urged CPIs to strengthen their internal quality assurance mechanisms before transmitting graduates’ data to the NYSC, while calling for strict compliance with approved mobilisation timelines and improved verification of records.
Nafiu said the theme of the workshop reflected the need for institutions and officers involved in mobilisation to take ownership of responsibilities, adhere to approved procedures and remain accountable for decisions.
He said the mobilisation process was a shared responsibility, requiring stronger information sharing, open communication and prompt escalation of challenges among institutions and NYSC officials when necessary and promptly to management.
The NYSC boss also called for continuous capacity building of mobilisation officers, stronger institutional controls to minimise errors and fraudulent practices, increased technology use, enhanced data protection and regular procedural reviews.
He said the ultimate objective was to simplify processes, eliminate bottlenecks, reduce turnaround time and improve the experience of every Prospective Corps Member (PCM) during mobilisation nationwide for all eligible graduates.
On her part, the Director, Corps Mobilisation, Mrs Racheal Idaewor, said the workshop remained an important platform for strengthening cooperation between the NYSC, CPIs and other stakeholders involved in mobilisation nationwide.
Idaewor said the forum enabled stakeholders to assess procedures, exchange experiences, identify emerging issues and agree on practical measures to improve mobilisation of eligible Nigerian graduates across institutions and partner organisations.
She said although considerable progress had been made, there was still a need to improve service delivery across the entire mobilisation chain and address remaining gaps affecting eligible graduates nationwide.
“Errors, omissions, duplicate entries, or intentional misrepresentation in the records of prospective corps members can compromise the integrity of the exercise and create unnecessary challenges for all concerned,” she said.
Idaewor urged CPIs to ensure that records submitted to the NYSC accurately represented the genuine profiles of their graduates, emphasising that verification, proper documentation and timely submission were core institutional responsibilities.
She also appealed to student affairs officers to discharge their duties with diligence, honesty and a strong sense of responsibility, noting that the quality of information submitted affected mobilisation credibility nationwide.
She urged stakeholders to use the workshop to review existing procedures, learn from previous experiences and develop practical solutions to identified gaps, thereby improving the mobilisation process nationwide for eligible graduates.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop brought together stakeholders from the Federal Ministry of Education, NUC, JAMB, deployment and relocation officers and actors involved in the exercise.(NAN)
Edited by Abiemwense Moru