The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is facing mounting criticism after more than 4,300 prospective corps members were reportedly accommodated in an Ogun State orientation camp designed for just over 2,000 people, triggering outrage over their welfare and safety.
The overcrowding at the Sagamu orientation camp became public after a viral video showed prospective corps members sleeping on mattresses spread across the floor of a multipurpose hall, with barely enough space for movement.
The footage, which surfaced online on Monday, showed graduates squeezed together in what many Nigerians described as unacceptable conditions for young people undergoing a compulsory national service programme.
The Ogun State Government has attributed the situation to the unusually high number of prospective corps members mobilised for the current batch.
The Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kayode Akinmade, said the camp, popularly known as the Five-Star Camp, normally accommodates slightly above 2,000 corps members per batch but received more than 4,300 this time.
Akinmade explained that the overcrowding occurred during registration, screening and hostel allocation, which reportedly continued late into the night.
He said the multipurpose hall was temporarily converted into a sleeping area, with mattresses provided for those awaiting completion of their registration.
According to him, the registration, credential verification, screening and hostel allocation processes are handled exclusively by NYSC officials and fall outside the direct responsibility of the state government.
However, the state government said it had intervened to reduce the hardship by providing 500 mattresses.
The Akarigbo of Remo also donated 100 mattresses, followed by an additional donation of 200.
Akinmade further recalled that Governor Abiodun had approved ₦50,000 transportation assistance for each of the 3,050 corps members in the previous 2026 Batch C, Stream I.
Despite the interventions, the development has intensified questions about the NYSC’s preparedness to accommodate the growing number of graduates mobilised for national service.
The controversy has also extended beyond Ogun State, following the circulation of another video allegedly showing female corps members at the permanent orientation camp in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State, sleeping in an incomplete building without functional toilets or bathrooms.
The footage was reportedly recorded during the November 2026 Batch C, Stream II orientation exercise.
The reported conditions have raised wider concerns about accommodation, sanitation and basic welfare standards across NYSC orientation camps.
Meanwhile, the NYSC has yet to issue a comprehensive public response to the allegations.
The scheme’s Ogun State Public Relations Officer, Tejumade Awoleye, declined to comment when contacted, directing enquiries to the state coordinator and the Director-General.
Efforts to obtain the national headquarters’ position were also unsuccessful, as its spokesperson had yet to respond to calls and text messages as of the time of filing this report.
The situation has continued to generate angry reactions on social media.
An X user, Ayohid01, who appeared to be among those affected, wrote: “Bro, I can’t believe I am experiencing this right now at Ogun State camp. Unna no try at all.”
Another user, Chude, questioned the state of the country’s youth service facilities, comparing the reported accommodation conditions to those in displacement camps.
The growing backlash has placed the NYSC under pressure to explain why thousands of graduates were mobilised to a facility reportedly operating at more than twice its normal capacity.
For many Nigerians, the controversy goes beyond temporary accommodation challenges. It raises fundamental questions about planning, infrastructure and the responsibility of the scheme to protect the welfare of young graduates entrusted to its care.