The Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), Kwara State chapter, has called on the federal government to review the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in order to solve the unemployment problem in the country.

The institute also advocated reduction of the National Youth Service Corps to three months instead of one year.

The institute said this in Ilorin during an interactive session with the public to share its opinions on the state of the Nigerian economy.

A fellow of the institute and guest speaker at the interactive session, Mr. Atobiloye Misbaudeen, argued that the one year period for the scheme was a time waste to some graduates who could well develop their businesses before the end of the service.

He added, "The NYSC is contributing to unemployment in the country because companies are not employing permanent staff as they should since they believe they can always exploit the corps members who will always come at the end of their orientation.

"If the federal government really wants to help, they should reduce the one year scheme to three months and give the corps members their one year allowance, either as an individual or group, to start up their businesses. Before the end of the year, many of them will become employers of labour, thereby reducing the burden of employment on the government," Misbaudeen said.