The National Youth Service Corps has commenced a training programme on compressed natural gas vehicle conversion for corps members, as part of efforts to equip young Nigerians with skills for employment and entrepreneurship after their service year.
The training, which began at the NYSC Federal Capital Territory Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja, is being implemented in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said the programme would expand opportunities for corps members to acquire practical skills that could support their transition into the labour market.
Olawande urged the participants to take advantage of the training and combine vocational skills with their academic qualifications to improve their prospects for employment and entrepreneurship.
He also encouraged young Nigerians to embrace skills that could support the country’s transition towards more affordable and sustainable energy options.
The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, described the initiative as an example of inter-agency collaboration aimed at supporting youth development and the Federal Government’s economic agenda.
Nafiu said the NYSC had trained more than three million corps members in various skill areas since 2012, including financial literacy, agro-allied activities, information and communication technology, fashion design and proposal writing.
He said the Scheme was prepared to support the country’s energy transition by providing corps members with practical knowledge in emerging areas of the economy.
According to him, the CNG training would help bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical application while creating opportunities for participants to build careers in the emerging CNG sector.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Monitoring and Delivery, Titilope Gbadamosi, said the programme was designed to place young Nigerians at the centre of the country’s transition to CNG-powered transportation.
She said the initiative targets the training of 300 corps members across the six geopolitical zones, with participants expected to become certified technicians and subsequently be attached to CNG conversion centres.
Gbadamosi also said the broader programme was linked to the Federal Government’s target of increasing the number of vehicles converted to CNG annually.
She noted that the National Automotive Design and Development Council had committed its technical expertise towards certification and standards for the programme.
The Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, said the partnership involving the NYSC and NADDC would help young Nigerians take advantage of opportunities emerging from the growth of the CNG and electric mobility sectors.
Ahmed said the increasing number of CNG conversion centres across the country had created new areas of employment and entrepreneurship.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the NADDC, Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, described the training as a practical step towards translating the Federal Government’s youth development agenda into employment opportunities.
He said the collaboration would help expose corps members to technical skills that could position them to participate in the country’s evolving automotive and energy sectors.
