EDC, NYSC Plan Skill Acquisition Scheme for Corps Members

The Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of Pan Atlantic University  recently  hosted  the Director -General of  National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu in its head office in Lekki Lagos.

This visit was a preparation for both organisations to create a digital platform that would enable NYSC members to acquire skills and entrepreneurship education.

The initiative that would announce on a foreseeable future has been termed a game changer.

Commenting on  the development, Brigadier General Nafiu said: “The skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development department of NYSC is equipped to tackle unemployment in the country among the youth. That is the direction the scheme is headed because we are mindful of the high unemployment rate in the larger Nigerian employment space.”

According to him,  “It is part of our mandate and responsibility to tackl0e unemployment. It is one thing for parents and the government to put resources together, subsidise education, get children through the formal education sector, and it is another for the government to be concerned about getting them gainfully employed and productive to the larger society.”

‎‎ “As part of our own contribution to this, we have taken our skills, acquisition and entrepreneurship development programme to another level because we are aware that we can’t go the entire stretch alone, we look for partners that are willing collaborate with us and I think EDC is one of the foremost partners we need to bring on to restructure, remodel, and redefine the plans we have.”

‎ General Nafiu, who stated that the NYSC was ready to take the scheme to the next level, said: “We are conscious of the environment, and we are dealing with a new set of corps members, who are tech savvy and won’t be ready to receive booklets just like it was done previously.”

On the partnership, he said: “‎‎I am excited about the partnership that we’ve been able to make over these years, and the direction we are headed on this scheme is particularly laudable because our corps members will gain access to the proper skill learning technique to match the current entrepreneurship requirement.”

Speaking on the initiative, the Programmes and Partnerships Director, EDC, Dr. Olawale Anifowose, stated that the  marked a huge step towards properly defining the offering which  they have for corps members, which is access to our SME toolkit, that will offer them all of the resources that they need as an entrepreneur in Nigeria.

He said: “Whether they’re going into paid employment or they’re going to start the journey of entrepreneurship themselves. All of the resources will build their capacity to enable them to add value as young Nigerians,” adding that “‎‎And of course, for all of the distinguished members of the management team of NYSE, we welcome you to the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-Atlantic University.”

‎‎While commenting on the long-standing relationship with NYSC, Dr. Anifowose further added:“We’ve had an extensive relationship with NYSC for almost 10 years now. In the last 6 months, that relationship has been cemented with my own visit to the NYSC headquarters twice this year. So, I want to say thank you personally to the DG of NYSC, for flying all the way from Abuja and coming to our campus in Lekki, and the relationship has reached a critical point.”

The Director at the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, Mr. Kehinde Aremu-Cole, said the NYC has driven the skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development initiative since 2012.

“For a long time, a lot of focus was on the skill acquisition, the skill part of it. But after operationalising the project for some time, some of us found out that it is not just enough to be skilled. A skilled person without the entrepreneurial mindset will still be a poor person. And the much-desired contribution to GDP will not be achieved.

“So, there had to be a rethinking of the project to emphasize not just skills, but entrepreneurship development and all the value chain it entails,” he stated.

According to him, “We found the EDC, with all its resources, with all its facilities, a very good place to run to for curriculum development, for guidance, for experience sharing. Since we started that relationship, the EDC has been awesome. Not just in allowing us the use of modern, up-to-date curriculum, but also in the development of the manpower,” Aremu-Cole stated.

Also speaking during the visit, the Director at EDC, Dr Nneka Okekearu, said, “We’re excited about the engagement. The university itself is actually exciting. And the chancellor and the vice chancellor, anytime they are talking about what EDC does. Their joy comes specifically because we are focusing on younger people.”

“EDC is 23 years old and counting. The primary reason why we settled was to deepen the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Most times, when people hear entrepreneurship, they think about the person who has a kiosk on the corner. But we know that entrepreneurship is everywhere,” she added.

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