2nd July, 2022
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Jigawa said it trained 1,438 corps members in various income-generating skills in the state, under its Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Programme.
SAED’s Deputy Director in the state, Mr Umar Muhammad, said this at the closing ceremony of the training on Saturday in Dutse.
Muhammad said the beneficiaries, comprising 802 males and 636 females of the 2022 Batch ‘B’ stream I corps members, received the nine-day training in various income-generating trades.
He explained that the beneficiaries acquired different skills ranging from bricks and interlock production, electrical/solar installation, poultry/agro-allied, photography, automobile mechanic and leather work.
They were also trained in design making, recharge card production, horticulture, make-up, cosmetology/toiletries, barbing, graphic design, food processing and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The deputy director noted that the training was aimed at equipping the corps members to be able to start and manage their own businesses.
“I advise you to take this training seriously so as to be self-reliant and employers of labour if you manage your businesses well.
“The SEAD training schemes were specifically designed to tackle unemployment and reduce youth restiveness through the provision of functional skills.
‘‘This is because the era of white-collar jobs is gone, hence the need to re-create the blue collar-job, which entails manual activities.
‘‘So, our youths should take advantage of the SEAD and acquire skills on different income-generating trades as a matter of priority,’’ the deputy director advised.
In her remarks, the NYSC Coordinator in the state, Hajiya Aishatu Adamu, said the SEAD competition was introduced among the corps members in order to gauge the performances of both trainers and trainees, encourage corps members to engage in post-camp training and arouse their interest to learn new skills.
Others, she said, were to prepare the corps members for further skills competition at both national and zonal levels, as well as motivate them to write bankable business proposals for the financing of their businesses.
Adamu further stated that arrangements had been concluded for the trainees’ post-camp and mentorship training during their service year.
She also thanked the resource persons for their consistency and commitment in partnership with the scheme in empowering the corps members with self-sustaining skills that would propel the country’s economic growth and development.
The coordinator, therefore, enjoined stakeholders to continue to push for the realisation of the NYSC Trust Fund, designed to alleviate all bottlenecks to youth unemployment.
He commended the Federal Government and the scheme for initiating the programme that would prepare them for the labour market after their service year.
The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of prizes and trophies to the different winners.