Review And Enrich NYSC Scheme To Make Nigerian Graduates Employable, Stakeholders Tell Tinubu

By Bukar BOLORI

The federal government has been asked to review and enrich the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme to give Nigerian graduates the needed skillset and experience that will make them employable.

The federal government has also been asked to work in conjunction with international donor agencies to expand the budget to the mentorship of fresh graduates in employment skills.

These are the positions that came out of a town hall meeting of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) in Abuja on Tuesday.

The NJFP initiative was born from the dynamic partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). and funded by the European Union.

It is a transformative youth empowerment initiative designed to address youth unemployment by connecting talented graduates with local job opportunities to strengthen their expertise while equipping them with world-class practical knowledge and relevant skills.

Speaking at the town hall meeting, one of the CEOs of the host organisations, Elevation Craft, Tongrick Byanyiko, said it would be of great impact on youth empowerment and security of the country if a large portion of the population could be enlisted into the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) and related programmes.

She said: “I don’t know how realistic it is for everyone to benefit from it, but I feel the budget needs to be expanded for more people to benefit from it.”

She added that the NYSC could also be a tool to make fresh graduates employable and it should not be seen as an institution to get corps members acclimatized with Nigerian diverse culture alone.

She said: “We know employers keep hammering on experience, NYSC should be made to give great skills to Nigerian graduates that would give them needed experience and skills that would make them employable.

“The NYSC needs to imbibe the core employability status to the scheme, so that people would know that that one year is the time for me to get the needed work experience.”

On her part, Chief of Party, Talent Management Company (TMC) North Central, Dr. Funmilayo Oyefusi said: “As a Talent Management Company (TMC) and implementing partner since July 2024 where we were onboarded/engaged as the TMC for North Central region comprising six states in Nigeria (Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Kwara, and the FCT), we have registered 256 New HostOrganisations, visited and verified 349 Host Organisations, verified and found 207 Host Organisations eligible, matched 418 Fellows with about 51 Host Organisations and 250 Fellows resumed their fellowship in North Central.

“Of course, this is an ongoing success. It is not just another project where only numbers will be looked out for but, it is more than a project/programme. It is a commitment to tackling the pressing challenges of youth unemployment while cultivating a generation of leaders equipped with world-class skills, practical expertise, and the confidence to shape Nigeria’s destiny.

She added that: “Today’s Town Hall Meeting provides us with a unique opportunity—not only to reflect on the strides we have made through NJFP but also to listen, to engage, and to inspire one another. It is a space where success stories will echo as proof of what we can achieve together and where innovative ideas will emerge to refine and expand the impact made in the lives of these Fellows.

“The young people we are empowering today are not just our future leaders; they are the change makers of today. They are the engine of growth, creativity, and resilience in every sector of our economy. And through the NJFP, we are making sure their voices are heard, their skills are sharpened, and their contributions to national development are celebrated.”

She noted the federal government has done incredibly well by having the programme as an initiative funded by the European Union and managed by the UNDP.”

She added that: “The federal government has done very well for we have been able to match 9,000 graduates to host organisations to work. What we should do further is to recruit more graduates into the programme so that we can match them with the host organisations and build their skills.”