Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore has pledged to abolish the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and replace the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with a voluntary employment programme if elected President of Nigeria.
In a post shared on his X account on Wednesday, Sowore described the current admission and national service systems as outdated, arguing that they should be replaced with reforms that promote merit, skills development and job creation.
According to him, tertiary institutions should have full authority to admit students through transparent, merit-based processes without relying on JAMB.
Sowore said universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are capable of managing their own admissions, adding that the existing system creates unnecessary bureaucracy.
He also proposed scrapping the current NYSC structure and replacing it with a two-year voluntary National Job Corps designed to provide meaningful employment, practical skills, entrepreneurship support and pathways to permanent careers.
The AAC candidate argued that Nigerian youths need greater access to jobs and economic opportunities rather than compulsory government programmes.
His proposal comes shortly after the Federal Executive Council approved a comprehensive reform of the NYSC scheme, introducing changes such as civilian operational leadership, specialised deployment based on corps members’ fields of study, and amendments to the NYSC Act aimed at making the programme more skills-driven and productivity-focused.
