The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Northwestern Jigawa State says it has trained 1,438 corps members in numerous income-generating skills.
State Deputy Director of the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, Umar Muhammad, disclosed this during the closing ceremony of the training on Saturday in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State.
Muhammad said the beneficiaries, including 802 males and 636 females of the 2022 Batch ‘B’ stream I corps members, participated in the nine-day training.
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He stressed that the beneficiaries acquired different skills varying from bricks and interlock production, electrical/solar installation, poultry/agro-allied, photography, automobile mechanic and leather work.
Also, they were trained in design making, recharge card production, horticulture, make-up, cosmetology/toiletries, barbing, graphic design, food processing and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), WikkiTimes gathered.
Muhammed remarked that the training was directed at preparing the corps members on the ability to start and manage their own businesses.
His words: “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.
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‘‘So, our youths should take advantage of the SEAD and acquire skills on different income-generating trades as a matter of priority.’’
In the same vein, the state NYSC Coordinator, Hajiya Aishatu Adamu, remarked that the SEAD competition was initiated to assess the performances of both trainers and trainees, urging corps members to commit to post-camp training and stimulate their curiosity to acquire different crafts.
She added that it was also meant to motivate the corps members for further skills competition at both national and zonal levels. Adamu also encouraged them to compose bankable business proposals for the financing of their various businesses.
According to her, arrangements are underway for the trainees’ post-camp and mentorship training during their service year.
She expressed gratitude to the resource persons for their consistency and devotion in alliance with the scheme in empowering the corps members with self-sustaining skills that would propel the country’s economic growth and development.
 programme, Umar Muhammad, disclosed this during the closing ceremony of the training on Saturday in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State.){kind=link}