The Nigerian government has finally commenced payment of the new N77,000 monthly allowance for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, ending months of frustration and uncertainty.

On Wednesday afternoon, multiple corps members confirmed receiving credit alerts reflecting the increased stipend. The long-awaited disbursement comes just days after Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, assured Nigerians in a Channels TV interview that the backlog would be cleared by the end of March.

For months, the government had delayed implementing the approved allowance increase, citing budgetary constraints and bureaucratic hurdles. During an interview on Monday, Olawande attempted to explain the delay.

“I have explained this several times. Some people say I always mention it’s a process, and it is seriously a process. It was not in the budget when the president announced it. Some agencies and parastatals need to have their salaries included in the budget before anything can be done or paid out,” he said.

He emphasized that while President Bola Tinubu had approved the new allowance months ago, disbursement could only begin once budgetary allocations were finalized.

“Anybody can approve anything, but you must have a budgetary allocation for it. Now, they are done with the process. It has been approved and signed. Now, they can start taking it,” Olawande added.

Despite his reassurances, corps members had remained skeptical, particularly regarding whether those who had already completed their service would receive their back pay. Addressing this, Olawande reiterated the government’s commitment to clearing outstanding payments.

“You saw the new DG when they asked him, what about those who are going out now? Are they going to receive their backlogs? He said, ‘We have your account details; we will put it (the allowance) through.’ You may not like to hear this, but I can tell you the payment will happen at the end of this month.”

While the payment comes as a relief, concerns remain about whether N77,000 is enough to sustain corps members amid Nigeria’s rising cost of living. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average cost of a bus trip in Nigerian cities was N923.8 as of December 2024, meaning a corps member could afford only about 83 trips in a month if they spent their entire allowance on transportation alone.