“Allawee not enough; savings come from side hustles,” say corps members

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Across the country, many corps members are complaining that the 33k allawee in this Tinubuish economy is not enough for food let alone other expenses. But despite this economic reality, I’ve read somewhere or heard that some corps members are saving or saved some money during their NYSC.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a compulsory scheme established by the Nigerian government during the military rule of Head of State Yakubu Gowon in 1973 through Decree No. 24.

Its purpose is to “reconstruct, reconcile, and rebuild the country” following the Nigerian Civil War.

Graduates, after spending four to six years at any accredited tertiary institution in Nigeria, undergo this one-year national service to their Fatherland, and with the new National Anthem, to their Motherland.
Since its inception, NYSC believes that the scheme has fostered national unity and cohesion and inculcated in Nigerian Youths the spirit of selfless service to the community.

In this debut interview, featured NRTC Corpers’ Corner, I talked to some corps members who shared with us how they have managed to set some money aside from the meagre thirty-three thousand naira (N33,000) during their NYSC service year.

Eniola, Oyo State

I save with PiggyVest. I save as little as 5,000 or 3,000 or even 2,000 from the allawee as is possible. I’ve not been able to save millions but I’ve been able to save 25,000 from the allawee received over the course of my service year. The country is hard but having something to save is important. I sometimes eat two square meals…lol or even one square meal.

Excesses like snacks and extravaganzas have been deleted from my vocabulary just so I can have something to save at the end of the month. I would love to save more but I’m amazingly proud of myself.

Sherifah, Rivers State

I was able to save my allawee because I was serving close to home. I know people say you are supposed to explore and stay in new places for Nysc but that won’t work in this economy. I needed a new phone so I figured that if I’m able to save the money I would be able to afford one.

Firstly, I stayed close to home. I also joined ajo 15,000 monthly, 15,000 in ten months is 150,000. Then I saved the remaining in a separate savings account. My parents were literally feeding me, they gave me transport fare and all. Rivers state government pays 10,000 occasionally and my PPA pays 5,000 monthly. I was able to use that one to buy data and other miscellaneous. I was able to get the phone by the 7th month since it was my turn to take the ajo, then I added the extra I have been saving in the separate savings account since the price of phones keeps going up. At the end of the day, I have 50,000 left.

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Sọlá, Akwa Ibom

I had a side hustle during my service year. I was able to save something through ghost-writing gigs. I freelanced as a writer and when the money had become tangible, I used some of it to get myself some new shoes. The pair I took to Akwa Ibom got bad. Aside from that, I got a new phone. You could say I was privileged as I was lucky to have access to light in Esit-Eket, a village where there light is scarce than sightings of the rainbow. I kept working and I became a survivor of a ponzi scheme. My 70k added a few more thousands to the tune of a 110, 000 and I was saved by a friend who warned vehemently that I withdraw my investment. Need I tell you that the scheme crashed the next week. That money plus a 30k loan from my friend was what I used to get myself a brand new mini laptop. NYSC affords kopas free time and any kopa who is diligent can actually try to find a way to make side earnings.

Olamide, Ogun State

My ppa happens to be around my parent’s residential area (so I had no rent payment issues). My ppa treated me, like one of its staff, so I was paid like a staff (it’s a school though) and it’s trekkable (it’s about 20 minutes walking distance though I took a bike most times when going to ppa). Due to this, I was able to save my allawee for the last half of my service year though it saved me at some points but I can say I saved something tangible.

Olamilekan, Lagos state

Saving has been difficult for me. This is because the NYSC allawee is not enough to cover my transport fare let alone my feeding. Even with the monthly stipend my PPA gives me, it only covers a part of my feeding and not the whole.

However, because of my freelancing side hustle, I have been able to save a bit from it. This is because the NYSC allawee and PPA stipend relieve the bills that the freelancing money would have covered. In conclusion, my allawee and stipend are not enough to cover my transport fare and feeding.