The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has urged the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) to support advocacy efforts for presidential assent to the NYSC Trust Fund Bill, already passed by the National Assembly, as the scheme revealed it trained 1,391,119 young graduates in vocational skills between 2019 and 2025.

Director General Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu appealed while briefing Group 2 members of the Senior Executive Course 48, 2026, of NIPSS, Kuru Jos, who were on a study tour at the NYSC Directorate Headquarters, themed "Economic Diversification and National Development: Leveraging the Orange Economy and Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Growth in Nigeria."

The NYSC Trust Fund Bill has been approved by the National Assembly and is awaiting the assent of the President. We would appreciate it if you could include it in your recommendations when presenting your report to the president. With the Trust Fund, we will be able to provide every Corps member who undergoes SAED training with sufficient capital to start their business of choice at the end of the service year," Nafiu stated.

The Director General disclosed that the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme was introduced in 2012 in line with the scheme's objective "to enable Nigerian youths acquire the spirit of self reliance by encouraging them to develop skills for self employment." He noted that white collar jobs have become increasingly scarce, making the mandate more relevant than ever. "Today, those opportunities are very scarce. Thankfully, the NYSC Act has given us the mandate to empower Corps members with entrepreneurial skills that will make them not just self sufficient, but also employers of labour," he added.

The Director General of NIPSS, Professor Ayo Omotayo, who led the delegation, commended NYSC for reducing unemployment through the SAED initiative, disclosing that the study tour findings would form part of a blueprint on tackling unemployment to be presented to the Federal Government. "We deliberately chose NYSC for this study tour, having closely monitored your trajectory in the area of youth empowerment," Omotayo noted.

The course participants also viewed a documentary highlighting the success stories of young entrepreneurs who benefited from the SAED initiative during the visit.