Why ‘corpers’ now have to pay N4,000 to get call-up letters – NYSC

The National Youth Service Corps has defended its newly introduced policy which requires prospective corps members to pay N4,000 before accessing their call up letters online.



The agency which mobilizes Nigerian graduates for their compulsory one-year service to the nation debunked rumours in certain quarters that the new system was introduced for exploitative reasons.According to Olubunmi Aderibigbe, the NYSC’s spokeswoman, the policy is actually in the interest of the corps members.
Aderibigbe who defended this policy on Friday in Abuja said what the NYSC has done is to reduce the cost associated with collection of call up letters.She said, “It is wrong for anyone to assert that NYSC is exploiting prospective corps members through the new computerized process.
“Some people seem not to know what some of prospective corps members go through before collecting their call-up letters; many of them travel several kilometres away from their homes just to get the call-ups.
“What we have done is in fact to reduce the cost and risks associated with the collection of the call-ups and to eliminate sharp practices associated with the old process,’’ she said.
Aderibigbe wondered why some people would tag the new system as exploitative, noting that many prospective corps members spend more than N5,000 to get their call-ups.
She said the management of NYSC remained committed to the welfare and wellbeing of corps members and would not in any way exploit them.