THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has made skills acquisition mandatory for all serving corps members, in a major policy shift aimed at ensuring that no Nigerian youth leaves national service without practical, income-generating skills.
The scheme said the new directive is designed to tackle graduate unemployment and equip corps members with “one or two practical competencies” that will make them either employable or self-employed before they pass out.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of the 2026 Google Hustle Academy launch, themed “Empowering NYSC Corps Members With Future-Ready Digital Skills,” the Director of Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, Mrs Shokpeka Winifred, declared that the era of graduating and waiting years for white-collar jobs was over.
“The era when young people will graduate from school and remain unemployed for several years due to lack of relevant skills has passed,” Mrs Winifred said. “That is why we have made this training mandatory, so that no corps member can dodge it.”
She explained that the programme is meant to complement academic qualifications and bridge the gap between school and the real economy.
“If you go through our orientation courses and you don’t have your mind placed on what you want to achieve, and you finish service and you don’t know what next, then it is clear that you do not know why you were born at all,” she told corps members.
The intensive two-week training is being run jointly by the NYSC Headquarters, Farmers Home Foundation, and Google Hustle Academy. It kicked off simultaneously as a pilot in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, Abia and Plateau states, with plans for a nationwide rollout.
Mrs Winifred said the NYSC has also institutionalised a Job Advisory and Counselling Week during the service year to track corps members who have started businesses or secured jobs, and to guide them on next steps after service.
“Our goal is to ensure that corps members do not just leave with certificates. We are bridging the gap so they are prepared for the world they will face after camp,” she added, insisting that “a future you fail to prepare for will certainly defeat you.”
Also speaking, the Founder of Farmers Home Foundation, Dr Chioma Ofornagolu, said the partnership with Google Hustle Academy targets up to 500,000 youths and women entrepreneurs nationwide who will learn how to use Artificial Intelligence in business and daily work.
“In the world we are now, if you are not visible, you will not succeed. Through this project, beneficiaries will get scholarships, access to Gemini AI Pro for one year, and other tools to scale their businesses,” Dr Ofornagolu said. She urged the Federal Government to adopt and amplify such initiatives through proper media awareness.
Courses lined up for corps members include: AI for Business and Workplace Productivity, Digital Marketing and Brand Visibility, Business Growth and Entrepreneurship, Content Creation and Personal Branding, Freelancing and Remote Work Opportunities, as well as Financial Planning and Business Strategy.
The NYSC said the mandatory skills programme reflects a broader push by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other stakeholders to stop producing “just literate Nigerians” and instead graduate problem-solvers who can create jobs and wealth.
