The National Youth Service Corps has announced a major overhaul of its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development training for corps members, with a renewed focus on standardising the curriculum to achieve stronger and more measurable outcomes.
This was disclosed in a statement by the scheme, which said the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, made the revelation while addressing participants at the 2025 second SAED stakeholders’ summit held in Abuja.
The summit, themed ‘Empowering a Generation: Building Competence for the Future Workplace and Enterprise Through Impactful Partnerships,’ provided a platform for reviewing the programme’s progress and aligning it with emerging workplace realities.
Nafiu explained that the scheme had embarked on an extensive digital transformation of the SAED programme as part of its strategy to address youth unemployment across the country. He noted that the redesigned curriculum now incorporates modern competencies such as artificial intelligence and mobile application development, among other relevant skills.
He further revealed that corps members were being integrated into the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent programme, while also being linked to international remote work opportunities through platforms such as Outsource to Nigeria, NYSC jobs.ng, and the SAED SME toolkit.
Describing SAED as a cornerstone of youth empowerment in Nigeria, the NYSC boss stated that over 3.18 million corps members had undergone entrepreneurship and workplace readiness training since 2012. According to him, more than 30,000 businesses had been formally registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a direct outcome of the programme.
“They are employing others and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product while demonstrating that our youths are capable change agents,” he said.
Nafiu emphasised the importance of prioritising competence, skill mastery, and digital literacy among corps members to ensure they remain competitive in an increasingly dynamic global environment.
He also highlighted the recently launched ₦2 billion MSME loan fund for corps entrepreneurs, established in partnership with the Bank of Industry, describing it as a significant milestone in strengthening entrepreneurship development.
The Director-General commended the founding fathers of the NYSC for their foresight in embedding entrepreneurial training into the scheme’s objectives from inception.
“The unemployment rate as at 1973 was put at 1.9%, but today it is about 6.9%. Nigeria has many young people who lack employability skills.
“We thank our partners and stakeholders in the SAED programme for collaborating with the NYSC to mitigate the scourge of youth unemployment in Nigeria.
“We must be committed to empowering a generation whose innovation and enterprise will shape the country’s future into prosperity.
“Equipping our young people is not just a programme, it is a national assignment, and NYSC is fully committed to it”, he said.
He urged stakeholders at the summit to reassess and strengthen their strategies for equipping corps members with the skills, creativity, and confidence required to thrive in today’s world.
Earlier, the Director of SAED, Kehinde Aremu-Cole, expressed appreciation to stakeholders for their contributions to transformation across sectors such as technology, creative industries, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and agriculture.
He described the training programmes, grants, and mentorship initiatives previously delivered as commendable, noting that they were helping to shape Nigeria’s future through corps members.
He called on partners to develop special-purpose funding structures capable of translating skills and aspirations into sustainable enterprises.
“Together, we are not just running a programme: we are building a generation.
“Let us keep empowering, and let us keep believing in the potential of our young people,” he said.
What you should know
The NYSC’s decision to standardise the SAED curriculum reflects a broader push to make youth empowerment programmes more practical, digital-driven, and employment-focused.
By aligning SAED with initiatives like the 3MTT programme and global remote work platforms, the scheme aims to ensure corps members gain relevant, in-demand skills rather than just basic training.
The inclusion of funding support, structured partnerships, and modern digital skills is designed to help young Nigerians transition more smoothly from national service into sustainable employment or entrepreneurship, while contributing meaningfully to national economic growth.
