The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to deepen the empowerment of corps members.
Olakunle Nafiu, director-general of NYSC, said SMEDAN remains a critical partner in the scheme’s skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development (SAED) programme, which has trained and empowered thousands of corps members to establish businesses across the country.
Nafiu spoke when Charles Odii, director-general of SMEDAN, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
The NYSC DG said the scheme continues to pursue policies and programmes that promote national unity, integration and socio-economic development, adding that SMEDAN’s interventions have contributed to the growth of corps-owned businesses.
“SMEDAN is a key partner of the NYSC because it has helped in birthing corps businesses that are contributing to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP), thereby boosting the national economy,” Nafiu said.
He commended the agency’s impact across various value chains, particularly in entrepreneurship advocacy, financial literacy, skills acquisition training and access to funding.
Nafiu added that the NYSC would continue to prioritise the SAED programme and strengthen partnerships with funding institutions to improve corps entrepreneurs’ access to loans and grants.
Earlier, Odii stressed the need to review the existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both agencies to further enhance the empowerment of corps members with business skills and relevant tools.
He said SMEDAN currently supports over 39 million small businesses nationwide and called for the creation of an NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) group dedicated to increasing public awareness of the agency’s programmes.
Odii described SMEDAN as the federal government’s apex institution for small business development, with responsibilities spanning job creation, poverty reduction and industrial growth, noting that the NYSC remains a strategic partner in achieving these objectives.
“Right from the orientation camp, we want corps members to become business development service providers,” he said.
He added that SMEDAN is also willing to train NYSC officials with skills that could enable them to become business owners after retirement.
