PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, bestow the prestigious Presidential NYSC Honours Award on 210 former members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in recognition of their outstanding service during their national assignments between 2020 and 2023.
According to a statement released by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the NYSC, Emeka Rems Mgbemena made availlable to News Point Nigeria, the awardees comprise 200 ex-Corps members who excelled across the NYSC’s four core programmes: Orientation Course, Primary Assignment, Community Development Service (CDS), and Winding-Up/Passing-Out.
In addition, ten ex-Corps members who sustained permanent disabilities during their service will be recognised under the NYSC Hope Alive Initiative, an intervention by the scheme to honour those who paid physical sacrifices while serving the nation.
The award ceremony will take place at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and is expected to be attended by top government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and stakeholders in youth development.
In a related development, the Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favour of two ex-Corps members seeking the right to wear skirts instead of trousers during NYSC service in observance of their religious beliefs.
News Point Nigeria reports that in a judgment delivered on July 13, 2025, Justice Hauwa Yilwa held that the NYSC’s refusal to allow female members to wear skirts was a violation of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of religion and human dignity.
The applicants, Miss Ogunjobi Blessing and Miss Ayuba Vivian, cited Deuteronomy 22:5, a biblical verse which they interpret as prohibiting women from wearing attire typically associated with men.
Their separate suits were consolidated and adjudicated under case numbers FHC/ABJ/CS/989/2020 and FHC/ABJ/CS/988/2020.
The court ruled that the NYSC’s enforcement of trousers-only policy breached their fundamental rights under Sections 38 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution, and Articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Among the reliefs granted were:
A declaration that the NYSC’s refusal to accommodate skirts constituted an infringement on religious rights.
A mandate compelling NYSC to recognise and permit skirts as part of the uniform for any female corps member who so desires on religious grounds.
An award of ₦10 million in damages to the applicants for the harassment and humiliation they suffered.
This ruling marks a significant development in the ongoing debate over religious expression, gender sensitivity, and institutional uniform policies in Nigeria.
While the NYSC is yet to respond officially to the court ruling, legal analysts told News Point Nigeria that the judgment could set a precedent for broader uniform reforms within government institutions.
