The Nigerian government established the National Youth Service Corps in 1973 as a means for furthering national unity. The program deploys Nigerian university and polytechnic graduates for a one-year period away from their home states to areas of Nigeria they might otherwise not have become familiar with. This article develops a measure of proper deployment (using the standards mandated in the establishing decree for the NYSC) and analyzes the deployment decisions made by the NYSC staff during the 1980s. Significant deviations from stated standards are found for the years 1982 to 1984, but these deviations decline during the 1985/86 year. Reasons for deviation and changes in deviations are discussed.
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