The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on the Federal Government to investigate the National Youth Service Corps over the non-payment of the newly approved N77,000 monthly allowance for corps members.
NANS expressed disappointment that months after the Federal Government approved the raise from N33,000 to N77,000 (from July 2024), the NYSC has neglected to implement the payment.
Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed, the NYSC’s Director-General, indicated that the increased allowance was not implemented owing to a lack of funding.
NANS, in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Vice President, Inter-Campus Affairs, Felicia Akinbodunse, justified the need for an investigation into the NYSC for failing to pay the new corps monthly allowance by the end of February, as promised by the Corps’ Director-General.
She was curious as to what had caused the delay in payment following Yushua’s official declaration that corps members would begin getting the N77,000 in February 2025.
According to her, her office’s findings indicated that corps members received only N33,000 for their February allowance last Friday, instead of the N70,000 promised by the NYSC Director General.
Akinbodunse stated that the FG and many state governments have recently begun to pay their employees the new minimum wage of N70,000, and that the NYSC has no reason to postpone payment of the approved stipend to corps members.
She stated that it would be blatant injustice for corps members to continue collecting old allowance months after the federal government approved and implemented it.
While urging the NYSC to provide reasons for the failure to implement the payment of the N77,000 corps monthly allowance, she asked that the FG probe the matter to identify the cause of the delay.
She said that failing to pay corps members the additional allowance could lower their morale, especially given the country’s economic circumstances.
Akinbodunse, however, submitted that “the leadership of the student body would equally interface with the NYSC to find out why corps members are yet to benefit from the new minimum wage of N77,000, even when staff of the NYSC are receiving the increase in pay from the Federal Government.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
