UNLOCKING A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

The NYSC skill acquisition and entrepreneurship initiative brings a glimmer of hope, argues Emeka Mgbemena

The National Youth Service Corps Scheme was established 42 years ago as a child of necessity – an interventionist agency of a country just emerging from the throes of a 30-month fratricidal war, the darkest period in the annals of Nigeria. The Scheme is a fallout of the three R’s – Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation enunciated by the then Federal Military Government to speed up healing process at the cessation of war.

In pursuit of its laudable objective of accentuating national unity and integration, by policy, prospective corps members are deployed to states other than theirs for service. By so doing, walls of ethnic suspicions and long held stereotypes have continued to be pulled down through the first-hand experience of corps members with their host communities. Indeed, it can aptly be posited that any of the 37 NYSC Orientation camps is a microcosm of Nigeria and a pivot of national unity.

Among the scheme’s aims and objectives is the inculcation of the spirit of self-reliance and discipline in corps members by giving them the opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievement, social and cultural improvement.

The objective of inculcating the spirit of self-reliance in corps members has taken the centre stage in the programmes of the NYSC in the last three years. Paradoxically, this is one of the positive consequences of the global economic down turn which precipitated among others the shrinkage of white collar jobs in the country- leaving in its wake a disillusioned, disoriented and restive army of unemployed youths trudging the streets of Nigeria in search of scarcely available white collar jobs.

As a proactive and salutary measure, the NYSC scheme in March, 2012 introduced skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development programme and embedded it in its orientation course contents with the objective of imparting skills to corps members so as to make them self -reliant and in turn employers of labour.

Quite tellingly, the programme which is a great paradigm shift is a direct answer to the often asked rhetorical question: After Youth Service, what next?

The skill acquisition scheme in the camp comprises 30 hours of training for a period of 10 days during each orientation programme. However, the main training lasts five to six days and could be elongated beyond the Orientation Camp depending on the skill set chosen by the corps member.

The programme consists of trainings in 12 skill sets namely: agro-allied; automobile; construction; cosmetology; culture/ tourism; education; environment; film/photography; food processing/ preservation; ICT; landscaping/ horticulture; power and energy.

As released by the Department of Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, over 410,000 corps members have undergone the training in the last three years. Out of this number, 772 of them have established verifiable thriving businesses in the country- thus contributing to the country’s GDP.

Nonetheless, the programme which undeniably has made some appreciable positive impact on the youths by imbuing them with entrepreneurial mindset is not without some noticeable drawbacks.

Foremost of these is the absence of well-equipped skill acquisition centres in the NYSC Orientation Camps which ought to offer corps members the requisite tools to practice what they are taught. A corollary to this is poor funding of the initiative which has a corresponding negative effect on the quality of trainers engaged to train the corps members. The scheme as it were, does not equally have dedicated start- off funds to fund the business concepts of the corps entrepreneurs and therefore relies wholly on some financial institutions to fund the proposed businesses. This of course has some limitations.

Be that as it may, it is heart-warming and comforting to state that a flicker of light appears at the end of the tunnel as some of the challenges raised will soon be addressed by government going by its renewed policy on youth empowerment through skill acquisition. Gratifyingly, the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme presents a veritable platform for government to actualise this.

In his inaugural speech, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that government would embark on vocational training, entrepreneurship and skill acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create five million jobs by 2019. To boost the morale of the trainees, the president further indicated that government would provide allowances to demobilised corps members undergoing SAED programme for a period of 12 months. This is a commendable and lofty initiative, but can be achievable through a well thought out plan and strategy so that it does not end up a flash in the pan.

In this wise, it is trite to restate that the National Youth Service Corps possesses the structure and capacity to bring to fruition government’s new policy thrust on the skill acquisition scheme. All that is needed is to strengthen the existing NYSC -SAED programme through better funding, establishment of well-equipped skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development centres across the 37 secretariats of the NYSC nationwide.

There is no doubt that if the programme is well implemented, it will positively rejuvenate the country’s economy and place it on a better pedestal for diversification from mono-cultural to multicultural economy.

If the Asian Tigers could achieve massive industrialisation and economic advancement - joining the league of developed nations in not so long a time through pragmatic and visionary leadership, Nigeria which is Africa’s largest economy, blessed with vast human and material resources, can replicate same with the right focus and purposeful leadership.

In the final analysis, the responsibility of achieving this vision does not lie in the hands of government alone, but it is a collective one requiring the concerted efforts of all – both private and public sectors to achieve. Mgbemena wrote from Abuja

THE SCHEME DOES NOT HAVE DEDICATED START-OFF FUNDS TO FUND THE BUSINESS CONCEPTS OF THE CORPS ENTREPRENEURS AND THEREFORE RELIES WHOLLY ON SOME FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO FUND THE PROPOSED BUSINESSES. THIS OF COURSE HAS SOME LIMITATIONS