By Nkechi Eze
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) to train Corps Members in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) retrofitting as part of efforts to deepen youth empowerment and tackle unemployment in Nigeria.
In an official signed statement by the Director, Information and Public Relations of the NYSC, Caroline Embu, the Scheme disclosed that the partnership was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Abuja on the integration of CNG retrofitting training into the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.
Speaking during the event, the Director General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, said the Scheme possesses extensive training infrastructure capable of supporting large-scale vocational development, noting that more than 300,000 Corps Members undergo SAED training annually during orientation camps.
He revealed that since the establishment of the SAED programme in 2012, over 1.5 million Corps Members have participated in post-camp vocational training programmes across different sectors nationwide.
General Nafiu stated that the collaboration with NADDC would further strengthen the NYSC’s objective of equipping Corps Members with practical and marketable skills before the completion of their national service.
“For over five decades, the NYSC has been mobilising Nigerian graduates in support of unity and development. In response to the growing rate of unemployment, we launched the NYSC SAED programme in 2012 because service with skills leaves Corps Members better equipped,” he said.
The NYSC Director General added that the nationwide spread of the Scheme provides a unique platform for effective implementation of the initiative.
“The NYSC offers a nationwide presence unmatched by any other institution as we operate in every state of Nigeria welcoming thousands of graduates,” he stated.
He assured stakeholders that the Scheme would provide orientation camps, training venues and administrative support required for the successful execution of the programme, while expressing optimism that Corps Members would emerge as certified CNG technicians needed to support Nigeria’s evolving energy sector.
In his remarks, the Director General of NADDC, Otunba Joseph Osanipin, described the partnership as a major step toward building a technically competent youth workforce capable of supporting the country’s energy transition agenda.
He disclosed that the council’s commitment to the MoU for an initial three-year period demonstrates the seriousness attached to the programme.
“Through this partnership, NADDC will deploy its full technical capacity to design and deliver a CNG retrofitting curriculum of the highest professional standard that would produce Corps Members of engineering background who are genuinely certified, practically competent and enterprise-ready,” Osanipin said.
He expressed confidence that the collaboration would transform lives and create meaningful economic opportunities for Nigerian youths.
Also speaking, the Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Dr Titilope Gbadamosi, said the initiative was designed to build a pool of certified CNG technicians from among Corps Members to support the Federal Government’s clean energy transition policy while creating employable vocational skills for young Nigerians.
The Minister for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, said the partnership between NYSC and NADDC could generate up to 5,000 jobs for Nigerian youths.
He urged stakeholders to continue supporting initiatives aimed at bridging skills gaps and creating opportunities for young people.
According to the Minister, the Federal Government has consistently promoted the adoption of CNG over the past three years and Nigerian youths must be adequately positioned to benefit from the emerging sector.
“We must not bring people from other areas to come and fix our CNG or from different countries to come and earn our income and claim we have no job,” Olawande stated.
He commended NADDC for fully funding the programme for three years while applauding the NYSC for providing its SAED platform to drive the training initiative nationwide.
The Minister further stressed that the training must maintain high practical and professional standards capable of empowering beneficiaries to become self-reliant and employers of labour after their service year.
