50 Years After Niger State Still Without Permanent NYSC Orientation Camp as Corps Members Endure Hardship

Niger State remains the only North-Central state without a permanent NYSC orientation camp after 50 years. Corps members have decried poor living conditions, forcing the NYSC to relocate the 2026 Batch B Stream I orientation exercise to the FCT.

Fifty years on, Niger State remains the only state in the North-Central yet to have a permanent orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).  Successive state governments have pledged to build a befitting camp. But as the years roll by, it has become clear that those promises are empty.

The result is that corps members posted to the state continue to endure hardship in an overused, overstretched, dilapidated and makeshift facility. The temporary camp is at Government Secondary School, Paiko, Paikoro Local Government.

Over the years, conditions in the orientation camp have been a major source of worry to NYSC authorities, leading to repeated appeals to the state government to intervene. Despite those appeals and despite the continued deterioration of the structures and facilities in the camp, little has changed.

In 2010, former governor Babangida Aliyu, awarded a N579 million contract for a permanent camp along the Minna-Suleja Road. The contract was abandoned after the contractor reportedly collected the mobilization fee. Years flew. Nothing happened.

In 2018, immediate past governor   Sani Bello, approved the construction of a permanent camp. But the approval was not backed with funding and the plan stalled. The story of suffering and pain continued for the corps members.

The closest push to altering their misfortune came in 2024 when Governor Umaru Bago visited the camp. He announced incentives for corps members including the approval of N5 billion for the construction of a permanent camp. He described the condition of the camp as unacceptable and promised to construct and complete a permanent orientation camp within one year.

He also pledged to personally monitor the project. As a stop-gap measure, he ordered immediate repairs of all toilet facilities and directed that five new boreholes be drilled to address water scarcity issues at the camp

Two years later, however, the camp remains in a dilapidated and neglected state. The condition of its facilities and the general state of the camp have caused untold hardships and anguish for corps members.

A female corps member from the South West told Daily Sun on condition of anonymity: “The camp is not habitable for human beings, not even for animals. It is wicked to subject other people’s children to this.

“Apart from the dilapidated structures, there is no water, no light and no beds. Feeding is okay, but the environment is nothing to write home about. Some of the classrooms converted to hostels have no windows. Some beds have no mattresses.”

Another female corps member lamented the lack of proper toilets and bathrooms, claiming that they were forced to defecate and bathe in the open: “There is no privacy here because we don’t have toilets or a place to bathe.”

An NYSC staff member, who also asked not to be named, said staff face the same conditions. “Each time there is orientation, four of us sleep in one room. Our condition is not better than that of the corps members.”

Because of this, the NYSC has temporarily relocated its Batch ‘B’ Stream 1, 2026 orientation to the FCT camp in Kubwa. A source told Daily Sun: “All corps members posted to Niger State will continue their orientation in Abuja until conditions improve. The orientation for Niger State is starting one week after other states because, according to the source, the state had to wait for the FCT to finish its own exercise before using its facilities.

“We had no choice but to relocate to Abuja because it is no longer news that the state orientation camp is not conducive for human habitation. All appeals to the state government yielded no result. We may also approach NYSC headquarters to mobilise corps members posted to Niger to other North-Central states for orientation, after which they can return for their one-year service.

“The situation is so pathetic that the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) recently appealed to the state government to intervene, but nothing has been done.”

Efforts to get the government’s reaction were unsuccessful. Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chairman, NYSC Governing Board, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, was said to be out of the country on official assignment.