Thousands of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates from polytechnics across Nigeria are reportedly stranded as prolonged delays in mobilisation into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) continue to disrupt their career plans. Many of the affected graduates say they have waited for months and in some cases years after graduation without being called up for the mandatory national service programme.
The delay, according to findings by reporters, has left numerous graduates unable to secure employment or pursue further professional opportunities, as many organisations in Nigeria require either an NYSC discharge certificate or an exemption letter as part of their employment requirements.
Several graduates blamed the situation on administrative bottlenecks within their institutions as well as the limited mobilisation slots allocated to schools by the NYSC each year. With hundreds of thousands of graduates produced annually, the available mobilisation capacity has increasingly struggled to keep pace with demand.
A graduate of Kaduna State Polytechnic who identified himself as Usman said he completed his programme two years ago but has yet to be mobilised for service despite repeatedly submitting the required documentation to the institution.
According to him, the repeated requests for document resubmission have become frustrating. He explained that officials often ask graduates to reprint and submit their regularisation documents even after earlier submissions, creating uncertainty and delays in the process.
Another graduate, Zainab Asmau, described the situation as emotionally and financially draining. She said many graduates of the polytechnic have waited for over three years without mobilisation, losing valuable job opportunities simply because they cannot present an NYSC certificate.
Similarly, Abubakar, another graduate of the institution, said the delay has forced many graduates to watch their younger colleagues progress ahead in their careers. According to him, some students who gained admission years later have already completed their service and moved forward professionally.
However, an official of Kaduna State Polytechnic who spoke anonymously explained that the institution faces constraints due to the limited mobilisation quota allocated to schools by the NYSC. The official said it is impossible for thousands of graduates to be mobilised at once because each institution receives a fixed number of mobilisation slots.
Graduates from Kwara State Polytechnic and The Polytechnic Ibadan also reported similar experiences. One graduate, Idayat Folorunso, said she completed her HND programme in July of the previous year but is still waiting for mobilisation months later.
In Kano State, some graduates of Kano State Polytechnic blamed the delays on documentation issues involving the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the NYSC system. According to them, some graduates were rejected during data uploads due to unrecognised or invalid JAMB registration numbers.
However, the Registrar of JAMB, Is-haq Oloyede, clarified that the board does not handle admissions into HND programmes and therefore cannot provide admission records for such students to the NYSC system.
Meanwhile, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) attributed the delays partly to compliance issues by some institutions. The board explained that students who proceed to HND programmes without completing the mandatory one-year Industrial Training required after the National Diploma may face difficulties during mobilisation.
Education analysts estimate that Nigerian universities and polytechnics produce roughly 600,000 graduates every year, while the NYSC mobilises only between 240,000 and 350,000 corps members annually. This gap has created a growing backlog of graduates waiting to participate in the scheme.
Experts also suggest that the backlog may have increased after the Federal Government raised corps members’ monthly allowance from ₦33,000 to ₦77,000, which may have reduced the number of graduates mobilised per batch due to financial constraints.
With more tertiary institutions being established across the country, observers warn that the pressure on the NYSC mobilisation system will continue to grow unless structural reforms are introduced to expand the scheme’s annual mobilisation capacity.
