The Federal Government is set to train National Youth Service Corps members as certified compressed natural gas technicians following a formal agreement between the NYSC and the National Automotive Design and Development Council, with the initiative expected to create 5,000 jobs for Nigerian youths.

The two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Abuja covering the integration of CNG retrofitting training into the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme, with NADDC committing full funding for an initial period of three years.

NADDC Director General Otunba Joseph Osanipin disclosed that the council would deploy its full technical capacity to design and deliver a CNG retrofitting curriculum meeting the highest professional standards. "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," he stated, adding that the three year tenure was sufficient to deliver life changing outcomes.

NYSC Director General Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu noted that the scheme, which facilitates Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development training for more than 300,000 corps members annually, was well positioned to absorb the new curriculum. He confirmed that since the SAED programme was established in 2012, 1.5 million corps members had engaged in post camp vocational training across the country. "We recognized that we cannot achieve SAED's full potential without the kind of technical partnership the NADDC brings to the table today," he noted, adding that orientation camps and training venues nationwide would be made available for the programme.

The Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Dr Titilope Gbadamosi, described the core objective of the collaboration as building certified CNG technicians who would support the Federal Government's energy transition agenda while equipping Nigerian youths with market relevant vocational skills.

Minister for Youth Development Ayodele Olawande, who confirmed the 5,000 job projection tied to the collaboration, urged corps members to maximise their service year by acquiring skills that would position them to employ others after service. "The Nigerian youths must not be left behind. 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," he stated.

Olawande confirmed that NADDC would bear the full cost of the programme for three years while the NYSC would provide its SAED platform as the training infrastructure, stressing that the training must meet high practical standards and deliver skills capable of sustaining the beneficiaries beyond the service year.