The Minister for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande has said the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) training for Corps Members would create more job opportunities and expand the scope of entrepreneurship among Corps Members uptill after their service year.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of the CNG Retrofitting Training programme for Corps Members, which was held at the NYSC FCT Orientation Camp in Kubwa, Abuja.
The Minister urged the Corps Members to maximize every opportunity of the training, as he promised that his Ministry would continue to support and empower the youths towards entrepreneurship.
He also advised them to change the narrative by switching to a cheaper and sustainable energy and thereby use skills to complement their certificates.
The NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu in his remarks said the initiative demonstrated inter-agency collaboration and the Scheme’s support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda for a prosperous and self-reliant Nigeria.
General Nafiu said the Scheme was ready to support Nigeria’s energy transition.
He stated further that since 2012, NYSC had trained more than 3 million Corps Members in various skills including financial literacy, agro-allied, proposal writing, ICT, fashion design among others.
He said Corps Members now have more access to financial support through the Scheme’s collaboration with some partners.
“The CNG retrofitting training supports the one trillion dollar innovation driven economy. This carefully selected programme would bridge the gap between classroom learning and real world applications”.
“The NYSC is ready and open for business, together we can build a robust innovative and economy, powered by the energy, ingenuity and enterprise of our vibrant youth population”, he stated.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Youth Initiatives, Monitoring and Delivery, Dr Titilope Gbadamosi, said the programme which placed the Nigerian youths at the forefront was targeted at retrofitting 100,000 vehicles annually.
She disclosed that the programme which would be delivered in all the six geo-political zones of the country would train 300 Corps Members that would become certified technicians and attached to different CNG centers.
In her words; “Following the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2033, compressed natural gas (CNG) emerged as the most viable and affordable alternative for Nigerian motorists and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu set a national target of 100,000 vehicles to be retrofitted annually”.
“The National Automotive and Development Council (NADD) has committed its technical authority in certification standard and full funding to this effort”.
The Chairman, Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Barrister Ismaeel Ahmed, said the partnership between the NYSC and NADDC would benefit Nigerians.
He added that over the past two years more CNG conversion centers had emerged and more Nigerians were showing interest in migrating to natural gas powered vehicles.
“The CNG industry is one of the new areas where those opportunities are emerging. Our role is to help create the enabling environment for CNG and electric mobility to grow”, he said.
Also speaking, the Director General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, in his remarks said the CNG retrofitting training for Corps Members represented a deliberate step in translating the vision of the renewed hope agenda of the Federal Government into practical opportunities for young people.
He described the collaboration as a good attempt towards placing the Nigerian youths at the centre of national development.
