By Jude Michael
The National Youth Service Corps has unfolded plans to deepen its collaboration with relevant stakeholders and expand its impact towards empowering more Corps members for self-reliance.
It also said the Scheme had been strategically engaging key stakeholders such as the Bank of Industry (BOI), through its Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), private sector partners like SV-NED, OTNI, ASOLAR, and other development agencies.
NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, disclosed this, Monday, in his address at the 2025 Strategic Meeting/Debriefing of State Officers held in Abuja.
He said those partnerships would not only ensure that Corps members were equipped with theoretical knowledge, but would also provide exposure to real-world business environments, enabling them to hone their entrepreneurial and leadership skills.
General Nafiu said the Scheme had formalized and operationalized those partnerships through frameworks such as the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the development of a comprehensive Action Plan by NYSC and SMEDAN.
‘By joining forces with these stakeholders, we aim to bridge the gap between education and employment, facilitating a seamless transition for our Corps members into self-employment and, ultimately, empowering them to become employers of labour.
‘In this digital age, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has become an essential tool for success in almost every sector, from e-commerce and digital marketing to tech-driven agriculture,’ the DG said.
Speaking through the Director, Human Resources Management Department, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad, the Director General stated further that NYSC would continue to prioritize the enhancement of ICT proficiency among Corps members and staff, ensuring that the Scheme stayed abreast of emerging trends in the business sector.
The Director, Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Department, Mr Kehinde Aremu-Cole, said the NYSC SAED programme had always been the core of graduate youth empowerment and national integration, and over the years, the Scheme had continuously strived to enhance its relevance and impact.
He said the theme of the meeting; “Operationalizing Excellence: A New Framework for Corps Empowerment through Policy Innovation, Efficiency and Sustainability”, was a call to action for all SAED Schedule Officers to think beyond the traditional approach of doing things and explore innovative ways to promote efficiency, sustainability and empowerment.
The Director tasked SAED Schedule Officers to improve the quality of service delivery and ensure that the NYSC SAED Programme was not only meeting its goals but also exceeding them.
‘NYSC SAED Programme remains adaptable and responsive to the dynamic needs of Corps members as could be seen in the review of the SAED Skill Sets, implementation framework, workbook and development of curriculums among other initiatives.
‘It therefore calls upon us to critically examine and refine our policies, focusing on innovation, efficiency and sustainability,’ Aremu said.
He also advised the SAED Schedule Officers to educate Corps members about NYSC Integrated System (NIS) activities, emphasizing the importance of selecting skills through their dashboards for efficiency and record-keeping.
‘You should act as mentors for Corps entrepreneurs, especially beneficiaries of loans and grants from our partners and role models for both Corps members and staff, encouraging active participation in SAED post-camp training,’ the Director added.
