The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of Pan-Atlantic University plan to design a digital platform to provide corps members with skills acquisition and entrepreneurship education tailored to Nigeria’s evolving labour market.
The initiative follows a visit by the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Nafiu, to the EDC headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, where both institutions agreed to deepen collaboration on youth empowerment.
Nafiu said the NYSC’s Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development department is strategically positioned to address youth unemployment. “It is part of our mandate to ensure graduates become productive after formal education. We are mindful of the high unemployment rate among young Nigerians,” he said.
He added that the scheme would leverage technology to meet the needs of tech-savvy corps members. “We are conscious of the environment, and we are dealing with a new set of corps members who won’t be ready to receive booklets as it was done previously,” Nafiu noted.
Expressing optimism about the partnership, Nafiu said corps members will gain access to proper skill-learning techniques aligned with current entrepreneurship requirements.
Dr Olawale Anifowose, Programmes and Partnerships Director at EDC, said the collaboration would give corps members access to the centre’s SME toolkit and other entrepreneurial resources, enabling them to add value as young Nigerians, whether through employment or starting their own businesses.
“Whether they’re going into paid employment or beginning their entrepreneurship journey, all resources will build their capacity,” Anifowose added.
The partnership builds on a decade-long relationship between NYSC and EDC, which has strengthened curriculum development and manpower capacity. Director of the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme, Kehinde Aremu-Cole, emphasised that entrepreneurship development is key to ensuring skills translate into economic contributions.
“For a long time, focus was on skill acquisition alone, but a skilled person without an entrepreneurial mindset will still struggle economically. This partnership ensures both skills and entrepreneurship development are emphasised,” Aremu-Cole said.
EDC Director Dr Nneka Okekearu noted that the university leadership strongly supports youth-focused entrepreneurship development. “The centre, operating for 23 years, was established to deepen Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Entrepreneurship is everywhere, not just in small businesses,” she said.
The collaboration aims to provide structured digital learning tools and entrepreneurial resources to prepare corps members for productive engagement in Nigeria’s economy.
