The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it has equipped about 58,933 corps members with digital skills as part of its push to empower young Nigerians for the future of work.
NYSC’s Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, shared the update at a youth retreat in Abuja organised by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development on Monday.
The event, themed “Achieving the Youth-Focused Presidential Priorities and Deliverables,” brought together government officials and stakeholders to discuss new opportunities for young people.
According to Nafiu, more than 56,000 corps members have already gone through ICT training at orientation camps across the country, while another 2,920 female participants received digital skills training through a partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC).
He explained that NYSC’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme has seen over 385,000 corps members take part in mentorship, internship and career development programmes since June 2023. “In the last two years, 1,118 corps members have even received financial backing to kick-start their own businesses,” he said.
Beyond entrepreneurship, Nafiu disclosed the role corps members are playing in education and health.
He said about 574,000 have been deployed to teach in schools, especially in rural areas, while over 38,000 have worked in health facilities, saying the scheme has also provided free medical outreaches that reached nearly 50,000 Nigerians in underserved communities.
The NYSC boss credited these achievements to strong support from the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and private sector partners like Access Bank, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, NNPC Foundation/Kudimata, among others.
On his part, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, urged young people to make use of the ministry’s youth help desk. He revealed that the ministry had already surpassed some of its own targets, training more than 15,000 youths in digital skills (instead of the planned 10,000) and mentoring over 97,000 (well above the target of 80,000).
He also pointed to the Nigerian Youth Academy, which now has over 250,000 participants, and efforts to train over 5,000 young people in peacebuilding and crime prevention.
Olawande further stressed the need to speed up implementation of the National Youth Investment Fund to further support youth-led initiatives.
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